J^RV OF PRINCf^

A

f^OLOGlCM SEVA^^

BV 4253 .P37 1870
Parker, Joseph, 1830-1902
The city temple

THE

CITY TEMPLE

^crmonsi

PREACHED IN THE POULTEY CHAPEL, LOxXDON,

1869-70.

BY

y

JOSEPH PAKKER, D.D.,

LONDON :
HODDER & STOUGHTON, 27, PATERNOSTER ROW.

MDCCCIiXX.

L©NDON :

PARDON AND SON, PRINTERS,

PATERNOSTER ROW.

CONTENTS.

PAGR

Crooked Places Straight 4

The Father's Business 15

The Revival of Religion 25

The Calling of Samuel 40

Blessings in Unexpected Ways 52

The Power and Weakness of Money 61

Jesus and Zacch^us 74

On Healing the Withered Hand 86

On So am I ; or, Human Similarities 98

Not in Word but in Power 110

On the Building of Babel 123

On Human Regeneration 135

On Men having their own Way 147

On Christ Manifesting Himself ........ 159

On the Private Ministry of the Gospel . . . ... . 169

A Parable on Christian Faith 181

A Parable on Revelation 193

A Parable on Demoniacal Possession 229

A Spiritual Vision 244

A Parable on Prayer • 253

God's Terribleness and Gentleness 277

Night and Morning 285

The Birth of Christ 296

Evil Compacts 301

Loneliness 311

Posthumous Influence 317

The Hands of God better than the Hands of Men .... 325

The Call of Abram 333

On Different Ways of Dwelling 341

God's Power the Comfort of His People 349

On Organization, Aggression, and Education 357

Greater Witness than John's 365

The Character of Jacob . . .■ 373

Moses and the Lamb ,^{81

Views of Human Life 389

The Signs of a Thue Ministry 397

Paul's Letter to Philemon 405

Railway Cries 413

On Receiving the Holy Ghost 421

On Lying unto the Holy Ghost 429

On Grieving and Quenching the Holy Ghost 437

On having Joy in the Holy Ghost 445

C|( €itg Ctmple.

Report op a Service Conducted by

JOSEPH PAEKEE,

In the Poultry Chapel, on Sunday Morning, September 19th, 1869.

Almighty God, Thou directest the steps of men according to a counsel
which we cannot understand. Thou dost as thou wilt in Heaven and on
eai'th ; we humbly desire to say, " Not our will but Thine be done.
Thou dost so combine the strength of righteousness with the tenderness
of love in all Thy ways concerning us, as to work in us a most perfect and
joyful confidence in Thy fatherly dominion. Truly, Thy throne is high
and lifted up, yet there is not a flower on all the earth that is not
brightened by Thy smile ; there is not an insect in the deepest places
of the sea that draws not its little moment from Thy eternity. As
for ourselves we live and move, and have our being in God.
Once we lived unto ourselves ; we were as our own gods ; we took
counsel of our own hearts and looked to our own understanding;
but we are washed, we are cleansed, we have been slain on the
Saviour's cross, and brought to know somewhat of the mystery of
sacrifice, and now we are able to say, not only with submission,
but with joy and rapture, " Not our will but Thine be done." We
once should have regarded this as the prostration of our nature,
as if it involved the throwing away of our manhood ; but Thou hast
bi-ought us to know that Thy will is higher than our will ; that the
whole universe is absorbed in Thy great power, and in Thy boundless
love ; and that we only truly live as we live in harmony with Thyself.
To-day we magnify Thee ; though Thou, art above all blessing, we would
bless Thee. Our cup runneth over; Thy rod and Thy staflT, they comfort
us. Thou hast prepared for us a table in the wilderness ; the Lord hath
done great things for us, whereof we are glad. Thou dost lead us even
through our disappointments, through the fading of oui" hopes and the

2 THE GIT'S TEMPLE.

breaking of our purposes, into some further secret of Thy will, that we
may be fitted for life and service according to Thy pleasure and not our
own. We cannot understand this ; it is too wonderful for us ; we can
but bow down and say. It is the Lord ; let Him do what seemeth good
in His sight. Thou knowest that we build our temples and enjoy our
dreams and shape out our destiny for ourselves. We lay foundations on
which we purpose to build ; we say to-morrow shall be as this day and
more abundant, and behold Thou dost break in upon our building and
dreaming, and turnest away our thoughts, and spoilest that to which we
have set our hand. In all this we desire to be found without murmuring.
We would enthrone our Father upon the circle of the earth, and set Him
above the floods. We would see Thee in the peaceful morning, in the
fiery noontide, and amid the stars of night. We would see Thy going
in all the way of our lives, and humbly desire to follow Thee whither-
soever Thou goest. In the circumstances which we now represent, we
desire to have an assurance of Thy special presence with us. We would
hot be content with any ordinary manifestation of Thy care ; to-day, we
would ask for an overflowing cup, for a multiplication and redundancy
of blessing — for shower upon shower of blessings — that so we cannot
understand but really believe, and heartily rejoice. Meet us in Thy
house. We thank Thee that Thou hast a house upon the earth — a
refuge for the distressed, a home for the wanderer, a sanctuary for those
who would shed tears of penitence, and offer songs and desires of wor-
ship. What wait we for, but that Thou wouldst fill the house with
Thy presence ; that Thou wouldst send down upon us the Holy Ghost
as a baptism of fire 1 We pray Thee to meet us as sinners ; to come to
lis in the fulness of the blessing of the Cross ; to di-aw us from sin to
the fountain open for sin and uucleanness, and to wash us in the
precious blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, and the
Saviour of the world. God be merciful unto lis sinners. In Thy mercy
show us all our .sins, and then cast them behind Thee, to be remembered
no more for ever ; afterwards do Thou work in us all the beauty and
fruitfulness of Thine own perfection. We would be without spot or
wrinkle, or any such thing ; holy, as thou art holy, righteous according
to Thine own integrity, and tender with the inspiration of Thine own
love. Restore the heavenly image in our nature perfectly ; work out
every lineament of Christ-like beauty upon us, and may we be finally
presented to Thyself a glorious Church in which Thou shalt find full
satisfaction. And, inasmiich as Thou hast called us unto I'epentance,
and unto holiness, we beseech Thee to call us to ever-extending service
in Thy kingdom. Thou hast given us heavenly treasures in earthen
vessels, whilst Thou hast reserved the excellency of the power as Thine

THE PHAYER.

own. Thou hast called lis to great duty, to somewhat of endurance, and
yet to multiplied and unexpected joys. Help us to know our ministry
and to fulfil it with simplicity, with constancy, with determination ; may
nothing move us from the way which Thou hast marked out. Faint
we may be, but may we also be pursuing. May our faces be turned
to the rising sun, and may its light make our countenances glow among
men as if we lived in constant day. Whether we publish Thy Gospel
publicly or privately ; wliether we speak to the great congi'egation the
Divine woixl of salvation, or go from house to house visiting the poor,
and the sick, and the dying ; or whether we teach within the sacred
enclosure of our own family, let Thy blessing always accompany us,
supporting our weakness, and saving us from all temptation. We sup-
plicate Thy blessing on all who are in anywise endeavouring to do good ;
all pi-eachers of the Gospel ; all educators of the youthful mind ; all who go
seeking out the causes they know not, that they may serve the poor, the
desolate, and the despairing ; all who write a woi-d for truth ; all who
do their business upon Christian principles, we beseech Thee to let Thy
care of such be deeply felt by them, that they may be encoux-aged in their
holy service, and be faithful to the very end. Remember those who
cannot be with us to-day by reason of personal or relative afl9.iction, with
all who ai-e shedding tears, -with all who are knowing the awful secret
of heart-breaking, all who are carrying within them griefs they cannot
speak, all who have curtained themselves within the darkness of
suffering. The Lord's blessing be extended towards all such, and may
they with joy draw water on this holy day out of the wells of salvation !
Now let Thy blessing come upon our hearts, rest upon us, and give
us peace. Teach us Thy truth, help us to see its meaning, and to feel
its fofce. Help us in all things to follow Jesus Christ through evil
report and through good report, until we sit down with Him on the
throne which He has promised to the saints. And unto the Fathei-,
and the Son, and the Holy Ghost, whom we adore as one God, be the
kingdom, and the power, and the glory, world without end. Amen.

THi: CITV TEMPLE.

Cbt Si^rmom

" I will go before thee, and make the crooked places straight." — Isaiah xlv. 2.

Man must go. It is not a question of whether we will go or not go,
that is determined for us — we must go. Every man is accomplishing a
journey, going through a process. No man is standiag still. The infant
is going on towards youth; youth is advancing towards the stature and
strength of manhood; and man, in the siimmer of his prosperity and
honour, is going on towards the sere leaf, and towards a land of
darkness as darkness itself. Men must go on, then. The only question
is— How ? Man may go, either with God or without Him. Here
comes in the honour and the danger of what is called liberty. Every
man has it in his power to say to God, "Get Thee behind me, I'll not
have Thee to reign over me." Man has it in his power to say that he
will lean to his own understanding, and that he will endeavour to have
all his own way. He can actually do that ; he can go so far wrong as
that ; he can shut the door of his heart upon God, and say virtually,
"Thou art not wanted here." So much of a devil can a man become as
that ! Don't let us misunderstand the case, then. God does not force
himself upon us. He does not say, " I will compel you to follow
me, I am determined to have my own "way;" but He says, "I offer
thee all this blessing, I extend towards thee this care, I will give
thee of my power a sufficiency for thy day." He talks to us so
condescendingly ! Absolutely offering His gifts, bringing them down
to us and talking about them with persuasiveness and urgent love,
showing them to us, and seeking to engage our affections and our
energies in the acceptance and realization of his great gifts. So there
is no great hardship in our life. We are not forced to have God ;
we can deliberately take up our pen, and sti-ike His name out of the
ITAge on which we intend to record our life ; or, on the other hand, we
can say " We are of yesterday, and know nothing ; we are so wise as not
to be able to tell what will occur to-morrow; we are so empty and barren
as to carry our little earthly immortality in our nostrils. Lord lead,
and we shall follow ; we accept Thy mercy ; we will go where Thou
goest." So then religion is no tyranny ; it is no pitiless compulsion of
understanding and heart which we resent, but a blessing which first
makes us poor, that it may afterwards enrich us with uuwasting riches

THE SERMOX. 5

of purity, and strengtli, and love. This is a great mystery, and not to
to be learned by the letter ; you must sufferingly, yet hopefully, live up
to this, if you would know it. I cannot give you a lesson in it as if
teaching children the alphabet ; it is a mysteiy that can only be fathomed
by life. These are the startling contradictions which are reconciled in
the ecstasy and inspiration of love. But wliether we go with God or
without Him, we shall find crooked places; we had better clearly under-
stand this, lest any one should turn round upon me after we have
walked the fii'st mile of Christian life, and say that he expected there
would have been no such places in all the course. Whether we take
God with us or not in the working out of oiir life, or go alone, we shall
certainly have crooked places. Life is crooked ; we ourselves are crooked ;
there is nothing in all human experience of which we can certainly say,
This is jierfectly straight. God himself often inserts a crook in the lot.
The curve is God's, as well as the straight line ; and what if, for reasons
too deep for us. He should sometimes lead us along a. sinuous course ;
what if he should often entangle our lot, and seek by these very trials,
and perplexities, and knotty places, to work in us a j^iirer simplicity and
a tenderer gentleness 1 Set it down, then, as a fact that we shall have
crooked places. I question whether there is a man here who has had
any varied experience in the world — one who has known anything of
life in its deepest passages and meanings — who would not say that,
even with God's presence, he has found many crooked places, hard
cares, anxieties that threatened to corrode and destroy him. I will
admit so much that is painful about the Divine life as that. And I
question whether there is any man here who has served the devil any
length, of time who would not instantly say that the way of trans-
gressors Avas hard — hard, difficult, dangerous, terrible ! I question
whether there is any man here of deep moral experience who will say it
was ever easy to take the devil's wages ; they burn the hand that takes
them, and destroy the heart that would fatten on the evil gain !

But, having taken God as our leader, we have come to know what
is the meaning of having these crooked places made straight for us. In
this world straight does not signify just what infantile minds would say
it does mean. There are many ways of straightening a man's coui-se —
many ways of showing him what he ought to do, without describing it
with square and compass, and setting it before him in exact geometrical
lines. You know this, you grey-headed listeners, who carry with you
the wrinkles of many years ; you know what I mean by expressions that
would be called contradictory by those who look not to things unseen.
Perhaps some of these little children, wliom I am glad to see in the con-
gregation, wonder what I mean by sucli contradictory words, as to find

6 THE CITY TEMPLE.

straighfcness in apparent crookedness — to find a curve so lengthened out
as to make a clear path ; but they will come to know what it means, as
they enter upon the hard duties of a life that never ceases to educate all
who are willing to learn.

I call upon all good men to witness, that in proportion as you have
trusted in God — made Him yonr shield and buckler — he has taken your
enemies ovit of your path one by one ; in proportion as you have taken
counsel of Him, and said, " ISTot our will, but Thine be done," you have
been enabled to run thi'ough a troop, and leap over a wall ; in proportion
as you have brought your tumultuous agitations of mind into harmony
with God's own qviiet and peace, you have been enabled to say God's
right hand and holy arm have gotten Him the victory, and through Him
we, too, have triumphed. So that yon have not found straight lines, as the
world would call straight, and yet, amid all the curvature and intricacy
you have been brought through upon a course that for all high purposes,
for all filial education, for spiritual culture and strength, have been
practically and really straight before your face. It is possible for the
most filial disposition to feel occasional shrinking from the paths which
God has distinctly commanded to be occupied. It would be possible for
Abraham to say, " I believe God intends me to make this sacrifice of my
only son, but I would rather put the knife into ray own heart than make
it." It is possible for a man to say, " This certainly appears to me to be
the right thing to do ; but if I do it, it will leave me poor, or, if rich,
rich with bleeding memories, and broken purposes, and crushed afiections."
Let no man say that God has not made his road straight before him,
because as he goes along that road he has to throw ofi" that which he
would gladly have kept — because he has to dig a grave here, and be
nailed to a cross there. And then again, do not let us take little pieces
of the course of life, and say, " What a turn there is here ; what an
obvious curve is there ; do not let us deal so with God's way of dis-
cipline." A child might go to the geographer, and say, " What nonsense
you talk about the earth being round ! Look on this great crag ; look on
that deep dell ; look on yonder great mountain, and the valley at its
feet, and yet you talk about the earth being round." The geographer
would have an instant answer for the child ; his view is comprehen-
sive ; he does not look at the surface of the world in mere detail ; he
does not deal with inches, and feet, and yards ; he sees a larger world
than the child has had time to grasp. He explains what he means by
the exi'ression, " The earth is a globe," and justifies his strange statement.
And so it is with God's wonderful dealings towards us : there are great
rocks and barren deserts, deep, dank, dark pits, and defiles, and glens,
and dells, rugged places that we cannot smooth over at all, and yet

THE SERMON. i

when. He comes to say to us at the end of the journey, " Now look
back ; there is the way that I have brought you," we shall be enabled
to say, "Thou hast gone before us, and made our way straight."
If that, then, be anything like the meaning of the text, if
we have at all reached its spirit, let me proceed furtlier to say that
we should regard the text as a warning. There ai-e crooked places.
One could wish that we could make one's own the experience of the men
that have gone before ; that, for example, one could have believed fully
what Solomon said after he swept the whole circuit of pleasure, and
thus have saved ourselves from travelling a single inch of the way which
he pronounced to be full of vanity. It seems, however, as if each man
must run his own course, and taste the bitter waters for himself. There
are, believe me, you young hearers especially, crooked places in life ;
crooked dispositions, men of whom you can make nothing. When you
think you are walking in the line of their dispositions and sympathies,
they turn perversely round upon you ; men whom, when you are serving
with all diligence and earnestness, will turn at the last hour, and be as
unthankful and imgracions as the rock or the sand that is unblest by
all the rich rains of Heaven. There are also crooked places in circum-
stances. When we think we are proceeding most satisfactorily, we
sometimes come to knots and difficulties of which we can make nothing
at all. So also crooked places are found in the uiicertainties of life. No
man can certainly say what will transpire during the next hour. A man
can suppose, and conjecture, and assume, and put his little inductions
together, and say, " I believe if these are true, such and such will be
the result ;" but something that he never thought about, that he had
not anticipated at all, comes in and breaks up his whole scheme, and
shows him that his wisdom is folly, and that his strength is weakness.
And so again and again, to our disappointment and mortification, we are
compelled to withdraw from our methods, and to abandon that on which
we had set our heart.

Now, it would be something if we could teach all young persons this
great fact, that there are crooked places in life, and that the mere
buoyanc}- of youth cannot overcome them. There are, as you may too
soon find, places so crooked that only God can thread his way out of
them. Further, let us regard the text not only as a warning, but as a
PROMISE. I will go before thee. This was a Divine promise made to
Cyrus ; and God has made the same promise to all who put their trust
in Him. It is surely something to have a Father's promise singing in
the heart. Many of us know the inspiration even of a human jjromise ;
many of us know that we never could have endured this bitter trial, or
surmounted that overshadowing difficulty, had we not enjoyed the

S THE CITY TEMPLE.

presence and hopefulness of some friendly promise in the heart. What
we feel our want of is the triumphant faith that says definitely to God,
"Thou didst promise this, and we wait for its fulfilment." We want
patience, too ; patience that comes of faith, that God may, so to speak,
have time to fulfil His promise. We are in such great haste, we are so
very urgent in all our movements, and so impetuous in our desires, that
we do not, as it were, give God opportunity to woi'k out His pi'omises ;
for He is slow in many of His promises. He is not slack conceraing
His promises, but often very slow, if we measure His movements by our
own vehement passion. The reason why we have been left so often
disappointed, mortified, defeated, is that we wished to outrun God, and
to be a little ahead of Him in some favourite pursuit. The reason some
of us are so low in spiritual health, in spiritual volume and compass, is
that we have not regarded these words as a special and personal promise.
There is a great difficulty about this matter of God's promises ; so many
of us believe only in what we can touch ; so many of us are the victims
of our senses — these poor dying deceivers, oiit of which you can get no
compensation ; they will cheat you, tempt you, they will urge you to
destruction, and mock you and die, and then can you prosecute them 1
Can you sue them in some court for spiritual damages 1 Oh, the folly,
the madness of atheistic wisdom ! Shall we lovingly and thankfully
take this as a promise into oiir heart of hearts 1 God does not say
when He will straighten our path ; He does not say how ; the great
thingfor us to believe is that there is a special promise for us, and to wait in
devout hope for its fulfilment. He who waits for God is not misspending
his time. Such waiting is ti'ue living — such tarrying is the truest speed.
The man that is running all the time and wearing out his feet is gaining
nothing. If we could believe that, how calm, how quiet, how strong, how
sublime would be our life ! Let us regard the text, not only as a warning
' and as a promise, but specially as a plan. I lay stress upon the word
PLAN : we are to regard this text as a scheme — a method, a special way
of doing things. Clearly so. " I will go before thee." It is in that
word before that I find the plan, and it is in that word before that I find
the difficulty on the human side. God does not say, I will go alongside
thee, we shall go step for step ; he does not say, I will go behind thee
and rectify thy mistakes, and efface all the traces of thy stumbling ;
he says, I will go before thee. Sometimes, it may be a long way before
us, so that we cannot see Him ; and sometimes it may be just in front of
us. But whether beyond, far away, or here close at hand, the great
idea we have to live upon is that God goes before us. If now and then
he would let us get ahead of him ; or if He would come to our side, as
it were, and be equal with us ; but He will not — He goes before. You

THE SERMON. »

say that is sovereignty, that is dominion, that is the omnipotent and
terrible Jehovah ! Well, but it is more ; it is love, it is tenderness, it is
care. When the mother goes before her child that is taking its lirst
little journey across thfe room, to move this chair and that stool, and to
clear the course for the little traveller, is she haughtily saying, " I am
your head; I am greater, and older, and better than you 1 " She never
thought of saying anything of the kind : the very fact of her going
before, the apparent act of priority and superiority, comes out of her
love, and gentleness, and care, lest one of the steps of her child should
slide. So let us not always think of God as exhibiting proofs of royalty
and supremacy, or as throwing His shadow upon us to teach us our
littleness, but rather think of Him going before us that he may
remove the mountains and gather up the rough stones, and make plain
places for our feet ; and so, out of what some regard as a great over-
.shadowing and chilling dominion, let us get the better idea of a patient,
watchful, inexpressible tenderness.

" I will go before thee :" the idea of God going before every man as
if he were the only man in the world is an idea that does not dwarf God,
but rather exalts Him exceedingly. Whose sun is this that is coming
burning and smiling in at these windows 1 Whose sun is it 1 There is
not a beggar in the great city who cannot look at it and say, " I have it,
as if there were not another being in the world ; it is bathing me in
glory, brightening me with its spirit of hopefulness, as if I were a king
or a leader of nations ;" thei-e is not a poor little sick child in any of
our hospitals who cannot look out of his window to-day and talk of this
great light as though every beam were all his. So God is a universal spirit,
encompassing all things, and yet He is mine, as if there were no other
creature in the universe. " My Father and your Father, my God and
your God," are Christ's own words, and it is in His spirit that we come
to the highest realization of things that appear to be contradictory and
impossible.

Let us beware of regarding this text as a mere uiattei- of course. It
is possible for some to say, " Well then, so be it." According to this
teaching, God goes before all men, and makes the crooked places straight
for them ; but it is not so. There is an essential question of chai'acter
to be settled. " The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord ;" " No
good thing will He withhold from them that walk toprirjlitlij ;" " In all
thy ways acknowledge Him, and He will direct thy steps." Chai-acter
comes in there, and this character is a Christian character, as the whole
revelation with which we have to deal is a Christian revelation. Chris-
tian character is represented alone in Christ Jesus, and even Christ Jesus
himself is nothing if he be not slain on the cross as our sacrifice, and if

10 THE CITY TEMPLE.

He shine not in all the trimiiph and Godhead of his resurrection. So
then we just get round to that place which is the centre of all that is
good and noble, and pure and heavenly — namely, the Cross. No cross,
no life. This is a great mystery, and once more, I repeat, we must love
it to understand it.

Let us beware of regarding this text as a licence for carelessness. Let
us not say, " If God goes before me, and makes all places straight, why
need I care 1" To feel that God is going before, is to feel that life is
sacred ; to feel that we are putting our feet down ui)on a road that has
been prepared for us by Almighty God, is to feel humbled, dwarfed, to
know what is meant by insignificance. To the good man, all life is holy ;
there is no step of indifference j no subject that does not bring out his
best d<^sires. " The place whereon thou standest is holy ground," is the
expression of every man who knows what it is to have God going before
him.

I have been preaching to myself this morning ; I have been my
own auditor, and have talked inwardly as well as outwardly. I am
glad to have a text like this to run into, to find refuge in, to turn
to as to a sanctuary; glad to get back from the vexation of details
to something like first principles. There are some people who take
an interest in us who do not hesitate to say that, in coming to
this place, I have voluntarily come into a very crooked place. There
are persons who do not hesitate to regard this Institution and all
that belongs to it as indeed crooked and difficult, that is to say,
difficult to maiiage so as to realise much success. There are, however,
two ways of looking at that. If I were starting life as a minister,
I should say, " Do not put me down in a church that is full, and
that is boastful of its own respectability, because I cannot go up,
but may go down ; piit me rather into a place that is quite empty,
but around which there are plenty of people." In coming to this place,
in exchanging a position that need not be described to those who know
anything of English Independency, for this place, I did not look ex-
clusively on what may be called the ordinary work of the ministry ; I
have A-entured to look at Loudon itself, that great and immeasurable
" centre without a circumference;" I have ventured to look on young
men, on strangers, on poor forlorn castaways, that would be glad to hear
a word of Divine hope. I have thought of all these ; and what if God
should give me somewhat of result ou.t of these 1 He would, if it so
pleased Him. He delights to make the desert blossom as the rose. We
are his agents ; we are not employing ourselves ; we are his servants.
We are not oxir own masters ; and if He go before — if God be for us —
who can be against us 1 And then this difficulty has been put very

THE SERMON. "i 1

strongly ; it is said, I do not know with what width of poetic licence —
for some people become poetic who have no right to become so — that
" there is nobody in the City on Sunday." If there is " nobody " in the
City on Sundays, I believe there are a good many persons in the City
on Thursdays, and that is the day on which I intend to exercise my
niinistiy in this place. Here is a place in the very centre of civilization,
within one minute's walk of some of the gi-eatest institutions of commerce ;
is it not possible, on the Thursday at twelve o'clock, to get into this house,
many who would be glad to hear the Word of Life 1 Are there not many
poor strangers wandering about the City, who would be glad to hear that,
after all, the world was in the arms of the great Father and Saviour Jesus
Christ 1 Are there not many who cannot attend the prayer-meetings in
their own suburban villages who would be glad to look into a place
like this, and join with their brethren from many quarters worshipping
God 1 This may be a dream — I believe it may become a fact. We
must dream ; if we fall back entirely upon facts, we shall never be facts
ourselves. We must dream and hope, and tiy and determine, and work
as if everything depended upon us, and then get away as if we were
nothing, and had not done anything. So, if you please, I shall be happy
to see as many of you here on Thursday, at twelve o'clock, as can come ;
and, if you cannot come, you may have it in your power to tell your
friends, to tell your associates in business that there is a service of
this kind — not an elaborate service, not what is called " displays of
eloquence," no elaborate dissertations upon subjects that few care any-
thing about, but prayer, and song, and speech, that may have a happy
influence on human hearts.

I believe in printing. The printed page can get where the living man
cannot ; the printed ])age is there, can wait to be read, is in no par-
ticular hurr'y, and comes upon a man when he wants something to do —
catches his eye when he is perhaps in a temper of mind that will enable
him to feel the truth. So we shall publish on Thursday a revised report
of what proceeds here on Sunday morning, or some otlier occasion, for
one penny ; and I trust that it will find its way into many houses, into
many sick chambers, into many of the lurking-places of those who have
no helper and no friend, and who seem to be out of the world, and away
even from God.

So you see we purpose something; and though I have spoken about
these purposes in this definite mannei', I beg you to understand that I
am speaking about them in my own heart with fear and trembling and
self-misgiving, yet with a determination that we will at least endeavour,
by God's blessing, to deserve well. Then, dear friends, let me say, in
conclusion, do not make any crooked places for yourselves. Some people

12 THE CITY TEMPLK.

have a great skill in making other people uncomfortable — for making
straight lines into curves. Do not let us be awkward ; anybody can make
himself a nuisance. Do not let us try that ; it is too common; but let
every man resolve that he, at all events, will not be the first to say an
unkind word, or cherish an unworthy suspicion. And now, what is it
we wait for, but for the Leader of our souls, and the Saviour of our life 1

" Jesus, still lead on
Till oitr rest be won ;
And although the way be cheerless,
We will follow calm and fearless.
Guide us by Thy hand,
To our Fatherland."

And if He lead, every opposing force shall be crushed by His great
power. This is my opening word ; may it be made rich with many
blessings !

C|e Ciijj C nil ph.

Report op a Service Conducted by

JOSEPH PAEKEE,

In the Poultry Chapel, on Thursday Morning, September 23rd, 1869.

Almighty God, Thou givest us our daily bread, and Thou givest us also
the bread which cometli down from heaven ; Thou art our life, and all
our strength comes out of Thine own sufficiency. We have turned into
Thine house in the midst of our daily business, that we may anticipate
the Sabbath, that Ave may get unexpected glimpses of heaven amid our
earthly care, and eat of the living bread which saves men from death.
Help us to know more of life than can be taught by the world ; may Ave
see Thy life in our OAvn ; and as parents delight to trace their own
features in their offs^jring, pointing them out with unconcealed satis-
faction, so may we bear Thine image, and give Thee joy in the beauty of
Thine OAvn perfection. Giving us Thy life, do Thou also mercifully giA^e
us dominion over all the temptations and enchantments that appeal so
urgently to an existence mingled of the dust of death and the fire of
immortality. Thou knowest how our daily bread is made unto us a
great temptation, as if man could liA-e by bread alone, and find eternitv
in the prodvictions of his own hands. Thou knowest how hard it is to
be busy with the present and yet to live in the future, hoAV almost
impossible it is to make earth a tent, and think of heav-en as the citv.
We reverse this ; we think of permanence here, of tabei-nacling on some
favourite hill, rather than of getting into the light and living in the
spirit of heavenly citizenship. Take us up into Thy heart to clay ; carry
us in Thy great love, and we shall have rest. Speak comfortabl}^ to us,
and Thy servants Avill bless Thee. We long for our Father ; we have
said with tears. When wilt Thou come unto us, not knowing that Thou
wert standing over us with unchanged pitifulness, turning our A'ery tears
into blessings O thou blessed mystery, far off yet ever near at hand,

14 THE CITY TEMPLE.

weakening ns that Thovi mayest give iis strength, shutting our eyes that
Thou mayest show iis some new glory, troubling our waters that Thou
mayest heal us, what shall we say of Thine unsearchable ways 1 Yet
are we glad of their unsearchableness ; our life would be poor, our heart-
fires would go out, but for Thy mystery ; herein is that saying true,
" Man shall not live by bread alone ; " he must have mystery because he
must have God. Help us to live as those who see the invisible; help us
to come out of eternity to do the perishing work of time. We would
live in eternity; we would abide under the shadow of the Almighty; in
the pavilion which Thou has built we would rest as in an inviolable
place. Saviour of the world, O Lord Christ Jesus, Mighty Prince, most
glorious and adorable Redeemer, come and save us ; we remember
Bethlehem and Calvary — Thy weakness. Thine agony and bloody sweat,
the Cross on which Thou didst yield to death, and the grave in which thou
didst set up the kingdom of immortality — and in these blessed memories,
we triumph over sin, and lay hold on eternal life. Precious Saviour
gentle friend, take our hands into Thine, let our crosses lean against
Thine, include our sorrows in Thine own sufferings, so that we may no
longer be our own, but Thine, Thou Saviour and Brother of the fallen
world. Blessed Saviour, do not tarry ; there will be no morning light
in the sky until Thou dost come ; suddenly come, O Saviour, and fill us
with Thy blessing. Our hearts ache for Tliee; tliey listen for the wheels
of Thy chariot, and are made sore by impatient love. Yet surely Thou
wilt come ; Thou wilt not mock our himgering hearts ; our weakness
shall prevail over Thy great power. Father of our spirits, we will hold
Thee until for our prayer we receive the answer of Thy grace.

Look upon Thy servants, who have left the cares of the world for an
hour that they may worship Thee. Thou wilt not allow them to suffer
for anything they may do for Thee ; this stolen hour shall make them
glad all the day, enabling them to descend tipon their work in a
heavenly and Divine spirit. Lord, come into the bush of our business,
and make it burn with Thy presence, and speak to us from the midst of
it of great deliverance from all bondage. Saviour, see the uplifting of
our eyes, and open heaven, that we may look upon Thee and have life
more abundantlv.

THE SERMON. !«'>

CIjc S^rmnit*

" Wist ye not that I must be about my Father's business ? "
"My meat aud my drink are to do the \vill of Him that sent me."
" Then remembered his disciples that it was written, ' The zeal of thine house
hath eaten me up.' "

" Wist ye not that I must be about ray Father's business ?" Do you
know so little of me as to be at a loss as to the meaning of my conduct 'i
Am I a stranger to my own mother, and a mystery to those who know
me best? A hard thing it is to be living a life that is misunderstood, to
have a great life measured by little standards, and great designs tried by
a prudence that never trespasses well-defined limits. Some men seem to
be fated to live a life of mystery ; their expressions are unlike other
men's ; they never take the view of life or any of its manifold arrange-
ments which is taken by those round about them ; and, consequently,
they are exposed to criticism and censure which they in their turn are
quite unable to appreciate or understand. When Lazarus was lying at
the rich man's gate, he was quite as far removed from the rich man as
when they were separated by the great fixed gulf, only the distance did
not appear to be so great, by reason of the treachery of the senses. The
rich man would have said that the beggar was at his gate, whereas, in
reality, the beggar's brightest life was already in heaven. One day we
shall have a correct idea of distance. Distances will be mea,sured not by
yards and miles, but by intelligence, disposition, impulse, cliaracter ;
and, in that day of true measurement, who can say how widely
separated even those who now compose one family may be. Jesus
Christ says, " Wist ye not," in a tone partly of wonder and partly
of reproach. It was somewhat of a mystery to Him that He should be
a mystery to His own mother. Thus the plain things of one life are the

16 THE CITY TEMPLE.

mysteries of another ; and not until all humau life is gatliered up into
one final and complete sonship, whicli it will be in heaven, shall
we understand much that now baffles and surprises us. Our Father's
business, then, calls us into unwonted paths ; it often calls us away from
those we love the best on earth ; it always seems to necessitate more or
less of startling and sensation on the part of general observers. There
are times iu our life when we must break away from the side of parents
and the companionship of chosen friends, and go and enter into relations
which at first sight would iiot seem to be necessary in the outworking of
our vocation. We shall often need to say, " Wiiit ye not," if we live
after the measure and quality of Jesus Christ's life. The explanation
will often lag far behind our wol-k. We shall often be " as a wonder
unto many," and shall come to know much of the pain, and difficulty,
and disappointment of being problems and bewildering puzzles to those
who ought to understand and love us. Set it down as a truth, con-
firmed by much history, that only as we get away from common
explanation, and live a life that is too deep to be fathomed by the
general canons of criticism, shall we be doins' a work that shall abide as
a blessing through many generations.

The idea of a man starting life under the conviction that he has
a Father in heaven, is most touching and instructive. According to the
number of his years, Jesus Christ was but a boy when He put this
inquiry to His parents. He soon realised the idea of a Supreme
Fatherhood. There was an awful brevity in His childhood. Whilst
others were scarcely initiated into the rudest elements of living, Jesus
Christ had, so to speak, hidden Himself in the heart of God, and
learned in that hiding-place how best to live amongst men. Some men
come into the idea of God's Fatherhood late in life ; it is about the last
lesson that they learn; others come into it quite early, and thus double
their life by living under the inspiration of Divine sonship. Let a man
start in life with the conviction that he must be about his " Father's
business," and all business will become new, and beautiful, and good. I
have no faith iu the vapid sentimentalism which confines what may be
termed the business of God within what are known distinctively as
"religious" limits. It will be a grievous error on the part of ths young
who hear me, if they imagine that their Father's business consists
entirely of what are known as devotional exercises. It is possible that
some of you may be secretly wishing that you could spend all your days
iu public prayer, in the hallowed engagements of the sanctuary, in
preaching the Gospel, or in teaching the young ; let me say to you,
standing as I do in the heart of this great city on one of the busiest days

THE SERMON. 17

in the week, that there is not an errand-boy in the streets of London who
cannot be turning his work into the business of God ; all business may-
be njade our Father's, by doing it in our Father's spirit and for our Father's
glory. Do not yield yourselves to the fallacy that religion is separate
and distinct fi'om all the common engagements of life. The door-keeper
in the poorest commercial establishment in this city may be doing his
Father's business quite as much as the elders and angels that are around
the throne. Everything depends upon your spiiit. You may make the
commonest duty uncommon by coming to it in a sanctified and heavenly
spirit.

"We who are Christians have a great advantage over those who have
not known Christ, in one respect — namely, we know as well as they do
what it is to be going diligently about a business that is not our Father's.
We have been in the devil's service ; we have received the devil's pay ;
we know the allurements and compensations of an earthly life ; and we
are bold to testify that when we have hewn out to ourselves cisterns,
they have been broken cisterns that could hold no water. On the other
hand, there may be some who hear me now who have no idea of what is
meant by doing the business of their Father in heaven. They ha,ve always
been working for themselves ; they have never known the inspiration of
love ; they have never known the liberty of unselfishness ; and it is
impossible for them to pronounce any opinion i^pon those of us who have
given ourselves to the service of our Father. We assure them, however,
that they are on a wrong course, and in so assuring them we speak that
we do most painfully know. Had we only heard of sin as a terrible but
distant foe ; had we only read of it in a professed revelation of God ; had
some imaginative spirit described it to us in poetic language, the case
would -have been entirely different ; but we have actually lived in its
slavery, we ourselves have been its victims, and, having known it in our
own bittter experience, we bear no hesitant testimony about its exceeding
sinfulness. Thanks be to God, we now know the other side ; we have
been called to the work of God, and in His business our very failure is
success, and our weariness is rest. Strong and happy are those men
whose lives are set, so to speak, in the key of God's Fatherhood. They
grapple with difllculties in a manner which the world cannot understand ;
many a time, indeed, they get out of their difficulties some of the choicest
blessings which enrich the heart, and, whether their realization of blessing
is instant or not, they are enabled by a comprehensive and devout view
of the manifold relations of life to assure themselves that in the end what
has appeared to be against them has in reality been working out for them
deliverance and triumph. Though Jesus Christ was about His Father's

18 THE CITY TEMPLE.

business always, yet He often aj^pearecl to be given over to the power of
the Tormentor ; so, at least, it appears when we view His life in detach-
ments, when we view it even at the point of the Cross. It is not until we
come to Him in the glory of His resurrection that we see how all the
while He has been moving onward through His Father's business to His
Father's blessing.

Jesus Christ having said, in the days of His youth, that He must be
about His Father's business, said also, at a later period of His life,
" My meat and my drink is to do the will of Him that sent me." He
seems in this second text to have advanced considerably in consecration.
The first text might be so read as to imply an occasional attention to a
business that was not earthly ; but the second text cannot be read
without forcing upon us the idea of entire absorption in the I)ivine
mission. And is not absorption in such work the highest reason ?
There is a point in life when so-called prudence is nothing less than
supreme folly. When a Christian man can deliberately consider how
much Christian work he can do, and how much he can leave undone,
without impairing his social I'elations, he knows nothing of the spirit of
Jesus Christ. So long as a man lives in the low, cold region of mere
duty, he lives unto himself alone. So long as he does not get out of the
region of natural conscience, he does not understand the mystery of love.
There is no occasion to misunderstand these words : I am not depre-
ciating duty ; I ain not saying one word in disparagement of conscience.
Conscience is God's monitor in the soul of man ; no gi'eater evil can
befall a man, than for the sensitiveness of his conscience to be diminished
in any degree. Conscience tells us what is right ; conscience speaks the
approving word to the well-doer ; conscience may be in us as the judg-
ment-seat of Christ. Yet is thei'e a sense in which love is higher than
duty, and diviner than conscience. Love is the absoi-bing power ; love
shuts out a man from his own view ; love utterly ignores and despises
all selfish considerations ; love is the fulfilling of the law. Now, Jesus
Christ was constantly under the inspiration of love. It was not His
duty to die for the world ; it was not at the suggestion of His conscience
that He became obedient unto death ; His incarnation, His sufiering,
His death, must all be explained, not by duty or by conscience, but by
the great mystery of infinite love. Has God's work ever been to tis more
than our necessary food 1 Have we forgotten our hunger in our service ?
Has our thirst failed to trouble us, because we have been carried away
in the ecstasy of vehement consecration to Divine pxirposes ? Or have
we had time to think much about ourselves, to measui-e our work, to
describe our results, and to report to men the things we have attempted

THE SEKMON. , 19

foi- Christ ] You hear what piercing questions I pvit to our hearts ; it
will be a poor thing if in the day of the Lord we be found to have
flattered one another that we have been doing much, when we are justly-
accused of self-indulgence. If any man can say truly that his meat and
his drink is to do the will of Him that sent him, he will not be slow to
acknowledge that this consecration is -due to the grace of God. This
consecration shortens life, that is to say, our days are so consumed as to
appear to us but as flying shadows ; there is so much to be done, thex'e
is so much reason for doing it, there is such luxury in working for
Christ, that the longest day seems but as the twinkling of an eye to the
soul that burns with holy ardour for the setting up of the kingdom of
Jesus Christ.

" Then remembered his disciples that it was written, the zeal of thine
house hath eaten me up." There are difierent passages in the Word of
God which can only be interpi-eted by life. We cannot come to their
meaning through the grammar or lexicon. They refuse to be interpreted
by the mere letter. There are passages that seem to us to belong rather
to romance and ecstasy than to actual life. Sometimes, indeed, we
think of them — especially when we ai^e our lowest spiritual health —
as iih-aost Janatical. We speak of them as figures of speech ; we do our
best by carnal criticism to cool the glow of many a text ; we say that it
cannot mean all that it appears to mean, and count ourselves very
skilful if we can bring some transcendent passage within the range of
common feeling and apprehension. Do let us be careful how we attempt
to explain away the enthusiasm of any Divine word. We must live
ourselves into the meaning of some passages. You know what I mean by
living ourselves into expositions of the Holy Word. Sometimes,
through our love, we come to imderstand references which before had
been quite inexplicable ; sometimes, in the darkest hours of bodily suf-
fering, when every stay seems to fail us, when our dearest friends are
compelled to stand afar ofij trembling and weeping because of their help-
lessness, we come to have revelations of the meaning of hard words, of
which we could make nothing in the time of our strength and prosperity ;
sometimes, in the long-continued exercise of patience, when we think we
must give up, when heart and flesh seem to fail, when our most cherished
desire is fading out, we have been brought through our own endurance
to know a little of the long-suifering of our Father, then have we
remembered what what was written of Him and His wonderful ways.
Most impressive is the idea that we may so live as to bring to men's
minds recollections of the Divine Word, and force upon their attention
positive fulfilments of passages which they had regarded as merely

20 THE CITY TEMPLE.

metaphorical. Jesus Christ brought to the memory of His disciples the
words, " The zeal of thine house hath eaten me up." They were com-
pelled to own that this Word alonewas truly descriptive of the life t hat
He was leading, and that nothing short of so comprehensive and intense
an expression could set forth a true notion of His devotedness to His
Father's house. Apart from such an example, they never would have
known the meaning of the word. An explanation might have been
attempted in language, but the explanation would have left the subject
where it found it ; nothing but a life of all-consuming zeal could explain
a declaration so mysterious. I venture to put this question to our
hearts to-day, Is it not possible for us so to live in the varied relations
which we sustain as to compel men to acknowledge that in us the Word
of the Lord has been fulfilled ] When men see that oiir life is derived
from heavenly sources, that in all things we consult a Divine will, that
we wait upon God, and that we wait for Grod, that the testimony of God
is our delight and His precepts our abiding law, then will they remember
that it is written, " Thou shalb love the Lord thy God with all thine
heart." When we are sodevoted to works of charity and philanthropy as
to think nothing of ourselves ; when we seek out the poor, that we may
comfort them ; when we go after the ignorant, candying to them the
lamp of knowledge ; when we speak to the hopeless the word of encou-
ragement ; when we plan much and work heartily for the restoration of
sinnerSj'then shall men remember that it is written, " Thou shalt love
thy neighbour as thyself." When our earnestness is not an occasional
imptilse, but a constant flame ; when we throw ourselves entirely into
our work, as though nothing could be done without us, and as if every-
thing depended upon the utmost strain of our powers ; when we anti-
cipate the rising of the sun, and are impatient of the darkening shadpws
of evening, because they hinder our Christian work ; when we think
and speak and labour only for the Saviour, then will men remember
that it is written, " Whatsoever thine hand findeth to do, do it with thy
might." When we are mei'ciful to those who have done us wrong ; when
we forgive our brethren seven times a day, and then are willing to
forgive them seventy times seven ; wh.en we do not forgive as if we were
punishing the offender ; when we rise so far as we may be able to into
the mystery of Divine pardon, then shall men remember that it is
written, "Forgive ye everyone his brother his trespasses." When, as a
Christian Church, we cultivate a spirit of mutual trustfulness ; when each
esteems other better than himself; when the strong delight to recover
and support the weak ; when the wise are patient and gentle towards
those of fewer attainments ; when we are careful of each other's repu-
tation, and gentle towards one another's infirmities ; when we are pitiful.

THE SEKMON. 21

long-suffering, condescending, unsuspicious, and self-sacrificing, then will
men remember that it is written, " A new commandment I give unto
you, that ye love one another." See, then, what a great Christian
mission is set before us ! The humblest believer in the Saviour can do
woi-k of this kind. We may not be great in critical exposition ; we may
know little or nothing of the syntax of the ISTew Testament ; we may be
contemned by grammarians and linguists, yet may we be able, by the
power of the Holy Ghost, so to live as to throw an explaining lustre upon
hidden passages and difficult expressions.

The young may listen to these texts as to the supi*eme law of life.
My young friends, do you know in your heart of hearts that you have a
Father in Heaven, and that you ought to be going about His business
every day ? Will you from this day forth give yourselves, body, soul,
and spirit, toH is most blessed service ? Believe me, other engagements
may seem to be more profitable, as they will certainly be more congenial
to the depraved taste, yet life without Christ, however glittering and
successful, is but a successful delusion and a magnificent lie. " Godliness
is profitable to all things, having promise of the life that now is, and of
that which is to come." Yet you must not be under the impression that
I am asking you to undertake God's business with any expectation of
reward. I do not seek to frighten you by Hell, nor do I seek to tempt
yon by Heaven. You will never do God's business if you do not love it.
No cowards can be in God's service ; no selfish aspirations can be per-
mitted in those who labour for Christ. We can do our Father's business
only after we have been crucified on the Saviour's Cross ; on that Cross
all that is low and selfish and unworthy must be destroyed ; then shall
we enter into the power of a renewed and Divine life.

The half -hearted may look on these words as a I'ebuke. We cannot
conceal from ourselves that there are some in the Church who have
named the Saviour's name, who have hardly at all entered into the
Saviour's spirit. I know the excuses that may be pleaded. We have
all had to encounter suggestions with regard to health, safety, reputa-
tion, and the like ; but if we had yielded to those suggestions, we should
have delivered ourselves up to the enemy. Is it enough to be religious
one day in seven % Is it enough to be always receiving of the Divine
bounty, and never to be returning the thanksgiving of a devoted life %
You justly say that no lialf-h(3arted man can succeed in business ; and
what is just in secu.lar concerns is also just in sacred engagements.
Half-heartedness is failure j half-heartedness is ruin.

The enthusiastic may look upon these texts as an explanation and a
defence of their devotedness. It is undoubtedly a j^ity that we have
to seek for defences of our enthusiasm even in Christian service. There

22

TlIE CITY TEMPLE.

are many who are ready to cool our zeal, and who seek to justify them
selves by considerations that are regarded as prudential. They tell ua
not to kill ourselves ; they tell us to remember family ties and family
obligations ; they tell us we should hold out as long as we possibly can.
I have only to answer, that in no part of Jesus Christ's life do I find
ally justification of any such suggestions as these. Can you point me to
a single word of Jesus Christ's which tells us to live within prudential
limits, to husband our strength, and to save ourselves from the charge of
fanaticism 1 On the contraiy, it seems to me that the wliole current of
Jesus Christ's teaching, and the whole bent of His example, go in
a contrary direction. He himself says that He must work while it
is day, for the night cometh, when no man can work ; He says, I must
work the works of Him that sent me. He was at work early in the
morning ; He remained late in prayer to God ; He went about doing
good; He lived much, though not long. It is quite possible to die
young, and yet to be very old. In the epitaph, men number the years ;
but in the heart God sets down the measure of the work. Some men
will live more in one day than other men will live in a week. Some
men will live to old age, and yet die as infants who have done nothing.
I believe in enthusiasm, not in half-heartedness. Thei-e is a great deal
of talk about men killing themselves in God's service, but such homicide
is rarely known as a fact. If those who work under the fear of killing
themselves for God were to die, there would be a considerable vacancy
in society, yet not much subtraction from the service that is really
rendered to the world. I would urge myself to ever-increasing con-
secration, and I would pray those who wait on my ministry to work
every hour of the day, sorry only that the day is so short for work, so
noble, so Divine. We may truly say of Christianity —

" On siicli a theme 'twere impious to be calm,
Passion is reason, transport temper, here."

Gathered as we are on what is called a week-day, when all tlie wheels
of the world's machinery are in most active motion, it mav be well for me
to say to some of you who have taken an hour from your secular employ-
ments, that when we lovingly look after our Father's business, our Father
will not forget ours. No man serves God for nought ; in that saying the
devil spake that which was true. God gives us commercial ideas as well
as ideas that are distinctively religious : " The earth is the Lord's and
the fulness thereof;" "Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteous-
ness, and all these things shall be added unto you." Our Father knows
at what sacrifice some of you may have come into this sanctuary to-day ;
He knows whei'e you have left your pen, your book, your weights, your

THE SERMON. 23

Scales ; and I have no hesitation in saying that if any of you have come
in the true spirit of Avorship, and at some secular cost, God will make up
to you a blessing in which you shall forget all your losses. It may be
that the reason why some of you have not succeeded in business is, that you
have neglected your Father's work. I do not say that this is so; I merely
venture to draw your attention to this suggestion, assured as I am tliat
no man does any work for God — esi)ecial]y any work that costs him any
expenditure of time, property, and talent — without his receiving mani-
fold more from his Father's hand. It is quite possible that some of you
may refer me to cases in which men have made little or nothiug out of
their business because they were so devoted to religions work. Such
cases are supposed to be anything but rare. Far be it from me to justify
any man in want of diligence in his secular calling. I reprobate indolence
and half-heartedness in all lawful business ; and by so much as I
reprobate this, I say that all loving Christian service is fruitful of reward
and blessing. We must not build one duty on the ruins of another ; we
must follow our business with a consecration that is determined to
succeed, and then offer it to our Father as a multiplication of the talent
with which He at fii'st endowed us.

I cannot but deeply feel that by so much as we realize our Father's
presence in life do we enter into the enjoyment of perfect peace. After
all, what is the strongest of us, but a man 1 What is the wisest of us,
but one who has made happy conjectures as to events ? We must go to our
Father, if we would be complete in strength and wisdom. When we
have done our little all, our Father must interpose, or what we have done
will fiiil. Having done what is in our power, we may cast ourselves on
the infinite sufficiency of Heaven. Our Father is on the throne, and
that fact should be to us a blessed and everlasting gospel. A vessel ■
coming across the Atlantic was suddenly struck in the darkness of mid-
night by a terrible wind ; she shivered and reeled under the stroke ; in
an instant all her passengers and crew were thrown into consternation
and dismay ; on every hand there were signs of confusion and alarm.
In the midst of all, the captain's little girl awoke, and, raising^herself,
sweetly inquired, " Is father on deck 1 " and, on being hurriedly told
that he was, the trustful little creature peacefully returned to her
slumber and dreams. I would be as that little girl. Darkness and
storm and loss will surely beftill me, yet, ami4 the gloom and the floods
and the ruin, I would ask, "Is Father on deck?" and, being assured
that God was with me, I would rest in the peace of faith. Even the
winds and the seas obey our Father's voice ; the sea supports the steps
of our Father when He comes to us in the night of tempest and sorrow;
and when He is in the vessel, it is impossible to be overwhelmed.

24 THE CITY TEMPLE.

Let Its now return to the crowded street, and to the duties and
anxieties of our daily calling, lovingly yielding ourselves to the infinite
care of our Father, and doing His business with both hands. That
all-comprehending, never-ceasing business will tax our highest powers,
yet our weariness shall draw upon us some tenderer blessing, and when
we are least in our own eyes, by reason of conscious insufficiency, we
shall be very precious in our Father's sight. Make your desk an altar ;
turn your business into a means of grace ; let your counting-house be a
sanctuary ; and then heaven will be but the natural climax of your
Christian progress.

NoTE.-r-I wish it to be clearly uuderstood that the Sermons ia The City Temple
are not literary Essays ; most earnestly do I wish them to retain the effect of
strong, urgent, loving talk concerning Jesus Christ and His kingdom. They
may be angular, rapid in their transitions, and abrupt i^n appeal, yet they may do
more good than if they were j^repared as polished shafts.^' Smooth ])reaching never
does any good ; few people care to hear it, and no people can possibly remember it.
Would to God I could say how deeply I abhor made sermons ! I ^^ew them as
abominations and wickednesses ; as poisonous confectionery, which may indeed
make a living for the confectioner, but spread death among the people. I pray to
be saved from ever making a fine sermon, a heautiful sermon, a sweet sermon,
a lovely sermon. I wish to speak after the manner of Jesus Christ himself, with
His incorruptible devotion to truth, His unutterable pity for sinners, His im-
placable dislike of Pharisaism, cant, hyiwcrisy, and devilism in general, and with
His all-constraining, inextinguishable, omnipotent love.

Keport of a Discourse Delivered by

JOSEPH PAEKEE,

In the Poultry Chapel, on Thursday Morning, October 7th, 1869.

"Wilt thou not revive us again, that thy people may rejoice in thee ?" — Ps. Ixxxv. 6.

It is well known that many Christians have come to have a distaste for
the word " revival " when used with reference to religious work. I
confess that to some extent I share that distaste. There has been so
much exaggeration, so much fanatical excitement, and so much transient
profession, that I cannot wonder at the revulsion which many sobei*-
minded Christians feel when they hear the very word "revival." I
believe that all got-up revivals are bad. Tou caijnot oi-ganize a true
revival ; you cannot ti'eat spiritual influences as fixed quantities ; as
the wind bloweth where it listeth, so, often,, is that sudden, profound,
and irresistible impulse which i-ouses the Church, and breaks in
beneficently upon the deadly slumber and delusive security of the
woi-ld. As a matter of fact, there have been extraordinary visitations
of Divine influence; there have been seasons when the Holy Ghost has
made the earthquake, the fire, the rending wind, and the stormy
tempest His ministers, and when men have been shaken with a wholesome
fear, not knowing the way, yet feeling the nearness of the Lord. There
have been great birthdays in the Church, days on which thousands have
been crucified with Jesus Christ, and multitudes have begun to sing
loudly and lovingly His pi-aise. There have been days of high festival
in the sanctuary, when the silver trumpets have sounded, when prodigals

36 THE CITY TEMPLE.

have come back to sonship, when shepherds have returned with recovered
flocks, when women have found the piece that was lost, and the dead
have risen to immortal life. There have, too, been times when tne
people have realized with special vividness the personality and life-giving
power of the Holy Ghost ; when they have had the keys of interpret-
ation wherewith to unlock the boundless treasures of the Divine word ;
when prayer was as the speech of love that never wearies ; when the
Sabbath shed its sacred glory over all the days of the week ; when God's
house shone with heavenly lustre, and all life throbbed in joyful harmony
with the purposes of God. I refer to theSe things as to matters of fact,
and in doing so I wish to know whether such delights cannot be more
permanently secured. At the same time let me clearly say that we
could not bear the strain of an ecstatic life ; we are not constituted for
constant rapture ; we have to contend with the deceitfulness of the flesh ;
we have to fight and sufier upon the earth when the spirit would gladly
escape on the wings of the morning to untroubled and hallowed scenes.
Still, there is danger in. supposing that because we cannot always live
at the highest point of spiritual enthusiasm, we may be content with
low attainments, or with a neutrality which attracts no attention to
itself. !Now there is something between the flame of a blazing ecstasy
and the grey ashes of a formal profession ; there is a steady and
penetrating glow of piety, there is a fervour of love, there is an animated
iutelligence, a zealous afiection, a godly yearning for personal progress
and social evangelization, which, when found together, make up a life
of delight in God and blessed service for men. To promote this
realization I ask your attention to a few suggestions of whose value
you can quickly form a sound opinion.

First of all, I am more and more assured that, as individual Christians,
and as churches of Jesus Christ, loe need to he very clear in our doctrinal
foundations. Do let us get a distinct idea of the principal points in the
Christian faith. Beginning with the doctrine of sin, let us strive after
God's view of it. To Him sin is infinitely hateful ; He cannot tolei'ate it
with the least degree of allowance ; it troubles His otherwise perfect and
hajipy universe j it despoils human nature ; it overthrows all that is
divine in manhood ; it calls into existence the worm that gnaws for ever ;
it is the cause of death and the source of hell. To underestimate the
heinousness of sin is to put ourselves out of the line of God's view ; to
understand sin is to understand redemption. Sin interprets the Cross ;
sin shows what is meant by God's love. Have we, as individuals and
chui"ches, lost the true notion of sin 1 Is it no longer infinitely abomi-
nable to us 1 Is it toned down to something almost indistinguishable 1
I take it upon me, as a Christian teacher, to say that we cannot be right

THE BEVIVAL OF BEUGION. 27

in our relation to Jesus Christ, we cannot be just to His lioly Cross, until
we regard sin with unutterable repugnance, until we rise against it in
fiery indignation, lighting it with all the energy of wounded love, and
bringing upon it tlie damnation of concentrated and implacable anger.
I am not sjjeaking of what are called great sins ; I am not thinking of
murder, of commercial plunder, of adultery, drunkenness, or theft ; I
am speaking of sin as sin, sin nestling secretly in the heart, sin rolled
under the tongue as a sweet morsel, sin indulged in secret places, sin
perverting the thought, sin poisoning the love, sin sucking out the life-
blood of the soul ; I am thinking of sin, not of sins — of the fact, not of
the details ; and I ask, with passionate yet well-considered poiutedness.
Have we not been led to underestimate the guilt of sin 1

Out of a true knowledge of sin will come a true appreciation of Jesus
Christ as the Saviour. Apart from this, He will be a strange teacher ;
with it, He will be the Redeemer for whom our hearts have unconsciously
longed when they have felt the soreness and agony of sin. Bi'ethren, I
could sum up my creed in a sentence, yet that sentence contains more
than all the libraries in the world. My short but all-including creed,
the faith which bears me up above all temptation and all controvei'sy, the
faith in which I destroy the power of the world, and soar into the
brightness of eternal day, is this : I believe in Jesus Chi^ist, the
Son of God ! My heart hungers for Him, my sin cries out for His
mercy, my sori-ow yearns for His coming, and when He does come He
speaks just the word that my soul needs ; He understands me ; He
knows me altogether ; He can get down into the low, dark pit into which
sin has thrown me ; He draws me to His Cross, He hides my sins in His
Sacrifice, He shows me how God can be honoured, yet the sinner foi*-
given ; He destroys the devil, and puts within me the Holy Ghost ; He so
fills me with life that death has no longer any terror with which to
afii'ight me. I believe in Jesus Christ, the Son of God ; His
word is the best witness of its own power ; it touches life at every point ;
it is most precious when most needed ; it goes into our business, and lays
down the golden rule ; it follows us in our wanderings, and bids us
return ; it is always pure, noble, unselfish, unworldly ; it gives us a
staff for the journey, a sword for the battle, a shelter from the storm,
and in the last darkening hour it gives us the triumph of immortality.
This is the witness of ten thousand times ten thousand histories. I do
not wonder at worldly or dead-hearted men calling this declamation : to
them it is declamation ; to them, indeed, it is madness ; yet can we, who
have known what it is to have Christ coming to us through all our sin,
say of a truth that, when we are most mad, we are most Avise, — the
ecstasy of love is the reason of faith.

28 THE CITY TEJIPLE.

If we lay firmly hold of these two points, viz., the sinfulness of sin,
and the work of Jesus Christ, we shall come to know what is meant by
what I have ventured to call the glow of piety. Only the liberated
slave can know the joy of freedom — only the recovered leper can
appreciate fully the blessing of health. Let an emancipated slave tell
of the joys of liberty, and the man who has never felt the grip of a
shackle will at once pronounce him a declaimer ; let a recovered leper
say all he can of the delights of health, and the man who has never
known a day's sickness will probably think him more or less of a fool.
It is so with our preaching, or with our true Christian living ; it is not
set in the common key of the world ; it cannot be judged by the rules
of carnal criticism ; when it is praised as regular, thoughtful, prudent,
let us beware, lest under these flattering names be hidden a deep, yet
almost unconscious apostasy. I am by these strong words seeking to
point out as the only solid basis of a genuine revival of religion the need
of being distinct and positive in our faith. Let us know what we
believe. Let us be able to say with sureness and thankfulness what is
the Rock on which we stand.

Don't say that I am clipping the wings of mental freedom ; don't
chai'ge me with narrowness or sectarianism ; only be on the Rock, and
you shall have upward scope enough ; only be sure about Jesus Clu'ist
as at once the Interpreter of sin, and the Saviour of sinners, and you
may fly far on the wings of fancy ; you may bring gems from many a
mine, and llowers from many a garden. You may have your own way
of saying things, you may speculate, and suggest, and discuss, only
never turn sin into a flippant riddle, and never set up the Saviour as
a mere conundrum in theology. Are we thoroughly at one of these two
])oints '? Do we know sin in its essential, unchangeable loathsomeness —
do we love Jesus Christ as the only, the Almighty, and the ever-
blessed Sa'-'iour 1 Then, out of this should come an intense fer-
vour of piety. We should have strength here ; we should come
back to these points from all the wanderings of fancy, and all
the bewilderments of temptation ; we should hasten to these doctrines
when the anxieties of religious thought are heavy upon us ; we should
publish these doctrines in explanation and defence of an enthusiasm
which must appear as madness to those who have not seen the unseen
or felt the power of an endless life. Believe me, to have one strong
point of faith is of more consequence than to enjoy the most splendid
speculations, which vanish like an enchanted dream when touched by
the realities of sorrow and death. To you, young and ardent hearers, let
me particularly, and with most anxious love, address a word of caution.
There are not wanting men who will tell you that it is of little or no

THE REVIVAL OF RELIGION". 2D

conseqi^ence what you believe. To the young mind this is very pleasant
it saves trouble, it leaves conscience untouched, it looks like liberty. Let
me speak strongly yet soberly about this teaching. I have examined it,
I have seen its effects on many men, I have watched its general results,
and I am prepared to characterize it as a lie. Observe the word,— it is a
lie ; you won't have a;iy difficulty in understanding the word, — it is a
lie ; you won't have any difficulty in remembering the word, — it is a lie;
you will not mistake the word for any other, — it is a lie. I do rot
hesitate to teach that faith is the very root of life. What a man most
deeply believes, that he most truly is. All earnest life is but a working
out of earnest conviction No man can live a deep, true, gi-eat life who
lives xipon the chances of the day, without convictions, without pur-
poses, without principles on which he is prepared to risk the whole issue
and destiny of his life. You will, after all, leave much unsettled ; you
will not encroach one iota upon the liberty of any man ; you will still
hold your mind open to receive new impressions, new visions of truth
new aspects of duty ; yet you will have no standing- pi ace, no home, no,
rest, until you can say with the love and fire of your heart, I believe
IN Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

In the next place, having a distinct idea of what we truly believe, we
must have a puhlic ministry ivhich is faithful to the spirit and demands
of Jesus Christ. I would speak with great caution upon this point, so
far as personal methods of ministry are concerned. I would not, on
such an occasion as this, be the teacher of my brethren. Every man
must preach in the way that to him is best, most powerful, and most
useful. What I wish to say is, that all Christian ministers are called to
be faithful to Jesus Christ in seeking the salvation of m,en. I would
lift up my voice most determinedly against the continuation of mere
controversy. In my view of ministerial life, there is too much attention
paid in the pulpit to controversial subjects. We must not think it our
duty to give public importance to every imp who speaks the language of
hell with a new accent. We have a great positive work to do. We have
affi,rmative truths to teach. We have to cast out devils, not by contro-
versy, but by divinely-revealed and authoritative truths. If we wish to
take our part in the controversies of the world, the press is at. our
service ; in the pulpit let us preach the Kingdom of our Lord Jesus
Christ, and mightily plead with man to repent and believe the Gospel.
There is scope enough for all our powers. We shall have to acquaint
ourselves deeply with human nature ; we shall have to read the heart
until we know its devices, imaginations, and cunning deceits ; we shall
have to study the power of sin in the soul ; we shall have to suffer with
Jesus Christ ; we shall have to inquire diligently into God's righteousness,

30 THE CITY TEMPLE.

mercy, and love ; night and day we shall have to study the mystery of
Redemption, and in doing all these things our every power will be
absorbed and exhausted. If now and again, specially for the benefit of
young men, we may have occasion to refer to controversies, let the
reference be made with the lofty earnestness of men who are intent
upon the salvation of those who hear us. We must not throw oif
the old words — Repentance, Faith, Salvation ; and the thiiigs that
they signify must be the veiy life-blood of our ministry. In any
genuine revival of interest in Christianity, there must be a revived
interest in a preached gospel. The sanctuary will be thronged, and the
thronging listeners will be justly impatient of everything that does not
bear immediately and intensely upon the salvation of men. In the
course of my ministry, now extending over seventeen years, I have had
occasion to adapt myself to changing methods of thought and expres-
sion. I have been tempted to modernise Chi-istian preaching, to give
up old names, and adopt new ones, and to resort to various plans of
persuading men to become Christians ; and to-day I bear witness that
all the good which I have heard of in connection with my ministry has
been, more or less, distinctly traceable to old methods, and old words,
and old doctrines, and old expostulations. God seems to have given
nothing to my modernised gospel, to my newly-labeiled preparations, but
to have set special honour upon the old ways in which our fathers trod
with so firm and progressive a step. We sometimes talk of adapting our
preaching to the age in which we live, of keeping it abreast with con-
temporary culture, and addressing ourselves to the habits of men of
taste. In all this there may be truth enough barely to save it from the
charge of insanity. My deepening impression is that, however we may
modify our manner, the doctrine which is adapted to all ages, to all
tastes, ,to all circumstances, is that Jesus Christ came into the world to
save sinners. Then must we be made to feel that the doctrines of the
gospel are humbling doctrines ; that they smite down our natural pride
and self-trustfulness, that they kill before they make alive ; that out of
our utter impoverishment and nothingness they bring all that is dis-
tinctive and enduring in Christian manhood. Black will be the day,
disastrous the hour, in which the gospel is pared down to meet the
notions of any men. The gospel is less than nothing, if it be not the
grandest revelation of the heai-t of God to the heart of man ; and being
I a revelation, it must of necessity be clothed with an authority peculiarly
emphatic and decisive. I cannot see that ministers of the gospel are at
liberty to talk with opponents on equal grounds. I do not look upon
Christianity as being merely the 2^lus of ai'gument set against ai'gument
in contention with unbelievers. I believe the gospel to be God's

THE REVIVAL OF RELIGIOI^. 31

answer to human sin and liuman sorrow ; and if any man ask
where is its authority, I answer, " The blind do see ; the deaf
hear, the dumb speak, the lame walk, tlie lepers are cleansed, and the
dead are raised to life." Christian living is the best explanation of
Christian believing ; Christianity is the best explanation of Christianity ;
and more preaching is the best answer to moi-e opposition. I am con-
firmed in the opinion that we should devote oui-selves with increasing
earnestness to seeking the salvation of men, when I look at the character
of our general congregations. We address the public, not a select few ;
we speak to men whose whole time is engrossed in worldly engagements ;
we speak to the poor, the unlearned, the sorrowing ; we address the
young, the careless, the worldly; and to such there is nothing that can
be preached that will so instantly touch the heart as the glorious Gospel
of the Blessed God, Let us, then, as chosen ministers of Jesus Christ,
as men in whose hearts is reigning the Holy Spirit, seek the salvation of
them that hear us, and despise every reward but the honour of turning
many to righteonsness.

Whilst there will be this full and bold pi-oclamation of evangelical
doctrine in the pulpit, there will be a system of teaching proceeding more
privately. I believe thoroughly in sound, critical, extensive teaching.
Some men have a peculiar gift in Biblical teaching ; and those men
should be encouraged to pursue their laborious but most necessary
vocation. The preacher and teacher should be fellow-labourers. The
preacher should collect men into great companies, arrest their attention
by earnest and convincing statements of Christian truth, and then pass
them on, so to speak, to the critical and patient teacher. Thus the man
of God will become thoroughly furnished; — having received deep instruc-
tion, he will be able to give a reason for the faith and hope that are in
him, and he will be strong to resist the importunities of those who are
driven about by every wind of doctrine. I believe that we have had
unjust and unreasonable expectations respecting the ministry. We
have looked for all sorts of work from ministers ; they have been
expected to be eloquent preachers, popular lecturers, learned wi'iters,
acceptable visitors, skilled controversialists, successful beggars, untiring
evangelists, and many other important and influential characters.
This is the covetousness that tends to poverty. Let a man be one thing,
and let him excel in it. My own life-long, fervent, never-changing wish
is to be a preacher of the Gospel ; I wish the Christian pulpit to be my
world ; in it I would work as a willing servant, and in it I would die
like a soldier sword in hand. Another brother is a teacher, learned,
critical, and patient with slow scholars ; another is blessed with a high
pastoral gift, by which he can make himself as an angel of God in the

32 THE CITY TEMPLE.

family ; anotlier is a ready writer, who can fascinate the eye of taste, or
convince the stubborn -minded : be it so ; it is right, it is best. When
Christian truth and Christian feeling revive amongst ns, we shall be as
the heart of one man, each magnifying God m the other. I am per-
suaded we shall all be wanted ; tlie trumpet, the flute, the organ, the
stringed instrument — the soldier, the physician, the teacher — the orator,
the scholar, the poet — the strong man, the gentle woman, the tender
child — all will be wanted ; and the only strife amongst us will be who
can do most and do it best for the Lamb that was slain !

I have heard of a great musical composer who was conducting a
rehearsal by four thousand performers ; all manner of instru-
ments were being played, all j^arts of miTsic were being sung. In one
of the grand choruses which shivered through the vast building like a
wind from heaven, the keen-eared conductor suddenly threw up his
baton and exclaimed, " Flageolet ! " In an instant the performance
ceased. One of the flageolet players had stopped ■ something was
wanting to the completeness of the performance, and the conductor
would not go on. It shall be so in the Cliurch. Jesus Christ is con-
ducting His own music. There is indeed a vast volume of resounding
hai'mony rolling upwards towards the anthems which fill the heavens ;
yet if one voice is missing He knows it ; if the voice of a little child has
ceased He notes the omission ; He cannot be satisfied with the mightiest
billow which bi'eaks in thunder round His throne, so long as the tiniest
wavelet falls elsewhere. Flageolet, where is thy tribute? Pealing
trumpet, He awaits thy blast ; sweet cymbals, He desires to hear your
silvery chime ; mighty organ, imite thy many voices in deepening the
thunder of the Saviou-r's praise ! And if there be one poor sinner here
who thinks his coarse tones would be out of harmony with such music,
let him know that Jesus Christ refines every tribute that is ofiered in
love, and hai-mouises the discords of our broken life in the music of
His own perfection.

There is one feature in our public Christian life which I should like
to see more fully brought out ; I mean the bearing of individual testi-
mony on behalf of Jesus Christ. By no means seek to supplant whab
is known as the regular ministry, but supplement it ; and at all costs
destroy the impression that nobody has a good word to say for Christianity
except its paid teachers. Such an impression is, of course, at all times
utterly and most cruelly false ; yet there is a possibility of so enlarging
and strengthening our testimony as to secure the happiest results. Why
should not the bankei-, the great merchant, and the eminent lawyer say
publicly what God has done for their souls ? If the Prime Minister of
England, if the Lord Chancellor, if the judge upon the bench, if the

THE RKVIVAL OP RELIGION. 33

well-known senators would openly testify on behalf of Jesus Christ, they
might produce the deepest possible impression for good. Such a
testimony would destroy the slanderous and blasphemous notion that
Christianity is not adapted to the sti-ength, the culture, and the advance-
ment of the present day. It would arrest the attention of genius ; it
would infuse a new tone into the conversation of the highest circles ; it
would supply novel material for newspaper comment. Instead of the
venal headings of newspaper articles, suppose we saw such headings as
these — Mr. Gladstone, on the Forgiveness of Sins ; The Lord Chan-
cellor, on the Nature of Christian Faith ; Mr. Bright, on the Per-
sonality and Work of the Holy Ghost ; Lord Cairns, on the Way of
Salvation. Of course I know the ready answer of many. We shall be told
that this would be " sensationalism ;" but let us beware lest the devil
find in that alarming word one of his easiest victories over Christian duty
and Christian courage. Is it not high time that there should be sen-
sationalism 1 Have we not been troubled with indifierence long enough ?
Has not Jesus Christ become a merely historical name in many quar-
ters 1 Terrified by the impotent bugbear of sensationalism ; hushed into
criminal silence by the possible charge of sensationalism ; frightened
into holes and corners lest anybody should cry " sensationalism ;" living
tamely, dastardly, shamefacedly, because there is such a word as sen-
sationalism ! Is this manly on our part, or true, or just, or grateful %
If this be sensationalism, how comes it to be so ? Is it not by contrast
with long-continued indifierence, with cruel silence, with unholy self-
indulgence 1 Could we not soon put an end to the charge of sensational-
ism, by the strength, the constancy, the ardour of our consecration ?
Sensationalism is a momentary cry — we may silence it by life-long
continuance in well-doing.

I see no reason Avhy we should not have what I may call a Service
OF Testimony in this place of worship, say once a month or once a
quarter. Let the Service of Testimony be held on a week-day ; let those
who are willing to speak a word for the Saviour communicate with me,
that all things may be done decently and in order ; let the banker, the
merchant, the lawyer, the artizan, the labourer say what has been the
efiect of their reception of Christianity ; let us have messages from the
family, the workshop, the barracks, the dockyards, the warehouse, and all
the highways of life, and there shall go forth an influence for good which
no imagination can conceive. Can anyone give me a sensible rea.son
why such a Service of Testimony should not be held ? Don't dismiss
the subject as impracticable ; there is nothing impracticable to determined
love. I do not desj)air of seeing this suggestion carried out most impres-
sively ; and if so, what a supplement of ministerial service will it be !

34 THE CITY TEMPLE.

From the ministry we shall receive full and instructive expositions of
doctrine, and from all sections of the Church we shall receive personal
illustrations of the power of godliness in the life. There is much in
living speech which cannot be felt in silent example ; many who have no
opjsortunit}' of seeing the latter might hear the formei-. And this supple-
ment we do really need. Let those who have social, political, literaiy,
and commercial influence throw it boldly and earnestly into the cause of
Jesus Christ ; it is but common justice ; having i-eceived much they owe
much; and as tlie time of 2:)ayment is brhif — alas, how brief! a shadow, a
hunyiug wind — let them be prompt if they would be just.

The time allotted for this service will not allow me much further
elaboration. I have spoken of our having a distinct knowledge of what
we believe, and of our preaching, so as to secure the salvation of men.
Now I want "signs following." I await your answer. Will you
who are full of sin and sorrow throw yourselves at the Saviour's
Cross, and cry mightily, " God be merciful to me a sinner ! "
Wait there until you receive the forgiveness of your sins. Don't
yield to any suggestions to go elsewhere. You will know that you
have I'eceived the answer when your hearts are filled with a deep,
joyful, unspeakable peace. Will you who have long borne the
Saviour's name carry the banner of your profession more loftily, more
steadily, and more humbly 1 Will you who preach the Gospel give
your nights and days to deeper, tenderer communion with Jesus Christ,
de.siring of Him the all-including gift of the Holy Ghost 1 Will you who
are in business live in the spirit of the golden rule 1 Will you who are
heads of houses walk before your families in the fear and love of God 1
I seek thus for signs following ! I cannot willingly allow the service to
pass without some good result. Are you forming the holy vow 1 In
your heart of hearts are you renewing your covenant with the Saviour ?
1 seek thus for signs following ! I would not spend my strength for
nought ; I woidd reap thus early ; I would have instant recompense ;
I would increase Gcd's seals of my ministry. Let me see the Word of
the Lord prospering ; let me know that Christ is gathering many spoils ;
tell me that the Cross of the Saviour is still able to draw men's hearts,
and to hold them for ever by the omnipotence of love.

NOTE.

The Thursday Service will continue to be held from week to week, com-
mencing at Twelve o'clock, and never occupying more than one hour. It
should be understood that persons are quite at liberty to listen for a few minutes,
and then return to their daily engagements ; the Ser\dce will, in this respect, be
considered as quite diiferent from our usual Sunday worship. It has to me been
a great delight to see the banker, the merchant, the clerk, the policeman, the
postman, the errand-boy, and the wayfarer, giving attention to this mid-week
Service. Who can tell into what new and distant fields the incorruptible seed of
the Divine Kingdom may thus be carried ? In considering the renewed proposition
to exchange Manchester for London, the hope of establishing such a service in the
very centre of the metropolis determined my decision. I had great misgivincrs
about Sunday work, but a very strong conviction that something could be done, in
such a city as London, on a week-day, throughout the whole of my prolonged and
most anxious thought upon the proposed change this conviction recurred again and
again, and eventually was allowed to decide the difficult controversy. There must
be great numbers of people in London who would be glad of an hour's relief from
the pressure of business ; there must also be great numbers of people in the
subm-bs who would be thankful to avail themselves of a public Christian Service
in the middle of the week. I am not without hope that many who come occa-
sionally to the City for various purposes may be led to make Thursday their City
day, that they may avail themselves of an opportunity of joining in the pviblic
worship of Almighty God. As was said in the opening sermon, there will not be
any attempt to get up discourses upon uncommon or sensational subjects ; there
will be reverent worship, and ^ loving word spoken for Jesus Christ. In these
methods of doing good my faith increases day by day. I cannot but feel gratified
by the large attendance of ministers of all denominations, yet this attendance
may become to me a temptation that ought to be strenuously resisted. I shall not
preach to ministers as a special class ; I shall not choose subjects in which ministers
may be thought to be ^specially interested ; my stedfast aim is to preach the
Gospel of God, our Saviour, with an earnestness that knows nothing of human
fear and a simjjlicity which carries with it its own best interpretation. In
adopting this course I shall have the hearty sanction of all my brethren in the
ministry who have outlived the juvenile desire to be inaccessibly lofty and
uufathomably profound.

Let me ask for much sympathy and prayer in relation to the Thursday Service.
It can in no way justly interfere with Christian work in other churches. It may
stimulate and enrich many; happily, it can impair none. If this note should
come under the attention of any men of leisure who are willing to assist in various
arrangements incidental to such a service, I shall be most thankful for their
co-operation. Let them communicate with any of the deacons at once. With
such a platform and such a Gospel, who can say where the influence for good will
cease? Already I have been encouraged by instances of unexpected honour in

preaching the Word. I accept them with reverence, as special gifts of God.
Some of my brethren, too, have most kindly volunteered to announce the Service.
This I take as a most valuable mark of favour, and I am deeply thankful for it.
In the very centre of London, preaching on a week-day, of course we must be
more or less dependent on all suburban congregations. In this way I would
be the willing co-pastor of all my brethren, labouring with them heart and soul in
making Jesus Christ more widely and deeply known. The manner in which many
of my brethren have been pleased to refer to this Service, has drawn forth my
most cordial love to them. I thank them for their encouraging words, and pray
God for them that they may be enriched with all grace in their divine and most
arduous vocation.

Report op a Service conducted by

JOSEPH PAEKEE,

In the Poultry Chapel, on Sunday Morning, September 26th, 1869.

Almighty God, how can we thank Thee for this sweet light of the
Sabbath-day 1 We would accept it as Thy benediction, and as a call to
ourselves to arise and shine, for our light is come. From the glory of
Thine own eternity Thou dost clothe the morning with brightness, and
the evening with the lustre of stars. Thou, art light, and in Thee is no
darkness at all ; and where Thou art, there is no night. Thou art the
glory of the heavens. "VVe would remember that Thou callest Thy children
to be children of the light and of the day ; we would hear in the voice of the
day a call to our own moral lustre and peace. May we remember that
as Christ is the light of the world, so hath He made us also to be lights
of our generation ; may we not put our light under a bushel, but so set
it before men, that they may see it and be blest ! Teach us the respon-
sibility of having light ; teach us that they that walk in the day should
not stumble ; and enable us to be sober, abandoning the darkness of the
night, and walking as those upon whom a great light has risen. O Sun
of righteousness, Mystery of fire, and light, and beauty, may we dwell
under Thy wings, and shed forth in holy reflection Thine own bright-
ness ! We find it easy to thank Thee for light in the summer morning ;
our mouth is filled with laughter ; in the time of unshaded glory, we find
it easy to sing ; Thy light makes us tuneful ; the fulness of Thy blessing
stirs our praises, and it is easy to say, in the noontide of honour and
prosperity, " It is the Lord." Thou knowest how we shrink from the
shadows which are gathered oftentimes in the firmament of Thy provi-
dence. WTien Thou dost gather the thunder-cloud aroimd Thee, then do
we tremble, as if Thou hadst forgotten to be gracious ; and if Thou
causest a storm to arise upon the sea, then we fear as those who have no

38 THE CITY TEMPLE.

Father. Lord, help us to show a Christian, filial love, triumphant in the
time of shadow and darkness, and trouble and loss, and in the night of
our sufiering do Thou give us songs of hope. Thus shall the light and
the darkness be full of God, and the morning and the evening shall be as
day ; and whether we are praising Thee for Thy goodness, or bending
with ti'ustful submission under the chastisement of Thy rod, Thy glory
shall be revealed in us, and men shall know us as the sons of God.

We have occasion to bless Thee for every shadow which Thou hast
sent us. If we had always lived in the heat of summer, we should have
become full of plague and full of death ; but Thou didst attemper the light
and the air. Thou didst constitute Thyself the minister of our souls, and
even when Thy winds have been cold and bitter, and Thy presence has
been far removed from us. Thou wert teaching us lessons which could
not be learned in summer, and which no joy could ever teach us. We
remember the hardness of the discipline by which we have been trained ;
we remember our disappointments, our sufierings under the strife of
tongues, our hidden sorrows in the chamber of afiliction and in the
sanctuary of death ; we remember the blighting of our hopes, and the
unexpected hushing of our songs ; we remember when the staff broke in
our hand, and when our poor strength gave way, as we lay down under
the junipei'-tree, desiring rather to die than to live. We said in such
dark hours that our days were vanity and our nights a torment ; we
said, the Lord hath forgotten to be gracious, and there is no song in our
mouth. Yet now we bless Thee for the stormy day and the starless
night ; we thank Thee that many a staff has broken in our hand and
pierced us; we thank Thee that Thou hast occasionally barked ou.r fig-tree ;
we bless Thee for the darkness Thou hast sent, for we have heard Thy
voice in the cloud. So are we to-day stronger and nobler and truer, by
reason of Thy providences alike of judgment and of mercy, and we have
come as a trained band, smitten and bruised, and yet blest with innumerable
benedictions, to make a joyful noise unto the Rock of our salvation.
We should have lifted towards Thy throne faces unstained with sorrow,
unmarked by traces of weariness, but for our great sin. God be
merciful unto us sinners. O Mighty Prince and Saviour, Son of God,
Lamb of God, Only Begotten of the Father, Thou lovest sinners. Thou
receivest sinners still ; Thou wilt not drive us away from Thy mercy-
seat when we cry, '"' Lord, forgive our sins !" We have offended Thee
with manifold offences ; we have been cruel to Thee, as if with
malignant determination to wound Thy gentle heart. We have been
cowardly in our Christian testimony, poor in our Chi'istian service,
selfish even in our religious considerations. But for Thy mercy, broader
than the earth, higher than the heavens, more enduring than our own

THE PKAYER. 39

life, "we should surely die ; but the blood of Jesus Christ, Thy Son,
cleauseth from all sin. That we may now feel its cleansing power
is our heart's desire unto God. We would be more than pardoned.
Thou wilt do exceeding abundantly above pardoning us ; Thou wilt
even make us holy after Thine own perfection ; Thou wilt take our sins
away as if they had never been, and- cast them for ever into the depth
of the sea. This is our joy and this our triumph over the devil.
Thou wilt make us without spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing, so
that the signature of the devil shall not be found upon us at all ; our
sins will be forgotten, and Thy great mercy will shine in our imperish-
able holiness. Sanctify ns then, 0 Holy Spirit, and we shall be holj .
Teach us the mystery of holiness ; we know nothing of it ; we have but
heard of holiness. Do Thou lead us into understanding what is meant
by the purity of God. Help us to hate sin with infinite and unquench-
able hatred ; may we abhor that which is evil, and may all evil men find
our presence a judgment upon them, and feel that we torment them
whilst we are in their sight. Help us to torment with infinite torture
all evil spirits, all devils, all hellish dispositions ; may those who have
them and suffer from them cry out to us by reason of our holiness,
" What have we to do with you, ye sons of God V Thus make us
preachers of the truth, signs and testimonies on behalf of righteousness,
and may those who are doing evil fear us, and those who are doing well
be made glad in the light of our countenance. We all want blessings ;
there is hunger in every heart ; there is a void in every nature. 0 Thou
dear, gentle Christ, who didst carry the fulness of the Godhead bodily,
fill us with Thy fulness, and we shall be satisfied. Amen.

40 THE CITY TEMPLK

u
ON THE CALLING OF SAMUEL.

"And the child Samuel ministered unto the Lord before Eli. And the word of
the Lord was precious in those days ; there was no open vision. And it came to
pass at that time, when Eli was laid down in his place, and his eyes began to wax
dim, that he could not see ; and ere the lamp of God went out in the temple of the
Lord where the ark of God was, and Samuel was laid down to sleep ; that the
Lord called Samuel : and he answered, Here am I. And he ran unto Eli, and said,
Here am I ; for thou calledst me. And he said, I called not ; lie down again.
And he went and lay down. And the Lord called yet again, Samuel. And
Samuel arose and went to Eli, and said, Here am I ; for thou didst call me. And
he answered, I called not my son ; lie down again. Now Samuel did not yet
know the Lord, neither was the word of the Lord yet revealed unto him. And
the Lord called Samuel again the third time. And he arose and went to Eli, and
said. Here am I ; for thou didst call me. And Eli perceived that the Lord had
called the child. Therefore Eli said unto Samuel, Go, lie down : and it shall be
if he call thee, that thou shalt say, Speak, Lord ; for thy servant heareth. So
Samuel went and lay down in his place. And the Lord came, and stood, and
called as at other times, Samuel, Samuel. Then Samuel answered. Speak ; for
thy servant heareth. And the Lord said to Samuel, Behold, I vn\l do a thing in
Israel, at which both the ears of every one that heareth it shall tingle. In that
day I will perform against Eli all things which I have spoken concerning his
house : when I begin, I will also make an end. For I have told him that I will
judge his house for ever for the iniquity which he knoweth ; because his sons made
themselves vile, and he restrained them not. And therefore I have sworn unto
the house of Eli, that the iniquity of Eli's house shall not be purged with sacrifice
nor offering for ever. And Samuel lay until the morning, and opened the doors of
the house of the Lord. And Samuel feared to shew Eli the vision. Then Eli
called Samuel, and said, Samuel, my son. And he answered. Here am I. And
he said, What is the thing that the Lord hath said unto thee ? I pray thee hide
it not from me : God do so to thee, and more also, if thou hide any thing from me
of aU the things that he said unto thee. And Samuel told him every whit, and
hid nothing from him. And he said, It is the Lord : let him do what seemeth
him good." — 1 Samuel, iii. 1 — 18.

" Samuel was laid down to sleep, and tlie Lord called Samuel." God

I calls men at unlikely times. The child is gone to rest, to forget in

sleep the weariness of the day, and when he goes into the quietness of

his own retreat, thinking that the day's work is all over, God calls

THE CALLING OP SAMUEL. 41

liiin. There is no night with God ; He shines thi'ough the everlasting
day. "What I wish to remember is this, that He has no set times, and
formal periods, and prescribed seasons in which to speak to men. I '
want to learn from this text — as I have inferred from many passages in
my own life — somewhat of what may be termed the unlikelinesses of God.
Here He is calling a child at an unlikely time. When we may say,
" Let us be quiet now, the child has gone to rest ; let nothing disturb the
young slumberer," God comes along the pathway of the darkness, and
speaks to the child. And if we had an ear to hear we should not be
slow to perceive that God speaks to ourselves at unlikely times. You
say, now this is a likely morning in which God will speak to us. We
are gathered from many quarters into His house of prayer, and we are
here waiting to know what God the Lord will say ; and yet it is quite
possible we may go away from this chosen place without hearing
anything. And sometimes, when we think God a long way off, and we
have our own little circle of thought and speculation — when we are
apparently given up to ourselves — God will come unexpectedly to us,
and call us and talk to us, and strike through our souls mysteries and
counsels that will make us tremble, and wonder, and pray. So be pre-
pared, if you can, for unlikely visitations from God ; do not say that any
time is unlikely to Him ; it is only unlikely because of our limited
vision and false estimate of things ; He is always speaking, only some-
times our ear is waxed heavy that we cannot hear. Here is a great
king : he is going to make merry with a thousand of his lords ; he is
going to light up the banqueting hall, and give himself up to revel, and
pleasure, and madness — going to live in the light of his own splendour-
And the programme opens and proceeds with marked success ; there is
light, there is music, there is laughter, there is joy ; and just then when
the effect is most splendid, a mysterious hand writes along the wall of
his festal chamber words he cannot imderstand. Just then the ghost
gets into his banquet ; that hand that nobody can touch, and whose
writing nobody can read, that hand torments and destroys the pleasure of
the whole scene. It was an unlikely time, but God does come in so. |
He comes into our wedding feast and into our merrymakings, into our
holiday, in the time of our jubilation, when the silver trumpet is put to
our lips, when the joy -bells are ringing around us, and when we say.
Now there is nothing but gladness, and mirth, and beauty, and pleasure.
He sends in that ghostly, spectral, all-tormenting hand, that " something
between a thought and a thing," which makes us shiver, which chills our
marrow, and spills from our palsied hands the wine of joy which we
were quaffing. God comes, then, let us know, at unlikely times ; comes
upon the child when he is sleeping ; and comes upon the great king in

42 THE CITY TEMPLE.

the time of his intoxication. Here, too, is a man — called at least hy
courtesy a man — "who is saying to himself — fit auditor, indeed — " This
will I do ; I "w-ill pull down my barns, and build greater, and I will say
to my soul, "Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years, take
thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry ; " and just as he has concluded that
monologue, a voice, terrible as the hand that Belshazzar saw, says to him
from a hidden place, *' Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of
thee " — an unlikely time. Are we poor creatures not living for the time
when we can build our barns greater, and say something comforting to
our souls, and when we have laboured, and struggled, and toiled,, and
sxiffered, and just got what we wanted, God calls xis fools, and sends us
away 1 If we do not speak comfortably to our souls until we speak to
them of barns being built greater, we shall suddenly come into the night
of judgment and damnation. We call these breaks in our life sudden;
but has it not been truly said that all things come suddenly to the blind ?
It is because we are blind that we feel sudden changes in life ; if we
knew the nearness, and measured the wisdom of God, we should know
that suddenness has no place in the all-embracing government of God, .
To us, indeed, by reason of our short-sightedness, there are unexpected
transitions and combinations, and such are necessaiy features in the
experience of finite creatures ; but to God, there is a touch of eternity in
every moment of time. Jesus Christ warned His disciples of unlikely
, times ; He said, " In such an hou.r as ye think not the Son. of man
Cometh." All great crises are more or less unexpected; where calcula-
tion ceases surprise begins, and as our calculation can never keep pace
with the far-reaching movements of God, what if again and again we
should be found in the attitude of men who have been astounded and
silenced by a great surprise 1 Jesus says that the strong man did not
know the thief's hour, or he would have been prepared to protect his
goods ; it is said that the day of the Lord cometh as a thief in the night ;.
and the exhortation founded upon these suddennesses in the Divine-
movement (suddennesses to our sliort vision) is an exhortation to
readiness to receive the Lord.

" And the child Samuel ministered, and the Lord called Samuel."
We proceed, you observe, from unliTcely times to unlikely persons — the
' child ministered, and the Lord called Samuel. We speak of unlikely per-
sons ; but, after all, what do we know about unlikeliness in any of God's
ministers 1 May the master not call what servants he pleases ? Who
are we that we should build our little gates, and double-lock them, and
bolt them high and low, and watch them, and demand tickets of admis-
sion 1 Who ai"e we that we should have weights and standards by
which to test the Lord's gons ? If it pleases the Lord to smite a king-

THE CALLING OP SAMUEL. 43

doLQ by tlie Tiand of a child, who are we that we should demand a more
proportionate insti'ument 1 If it pleases the Lord to direct the thoughts
of a generation by means of an agency which we would contemn, who is
right, the Infinite or the worm — the everlasting fire, or a flickering i
insect of the night 1 Let us be very cai-eful how we talk about men who
are called to speak God's revelations. If he calls an obscure man to do
His work, what is obscurity unto the Lord? One ray of His gloiy, and
the obscurity pei'ishes ; one elevation of His hand, and no pedestal of ours
can reach the immeasurable eminence. God calls imlikely persons to do
His work. We should have said, " Now, seeing that there is a very
painful communication to be made to this aged prophet, get some old,
experienced man to break the tidings to him, so to adapt the message ^
that the venerable prophet may not be overwhelmed ; it must be done
prudently, with much measurement of tone and communication." So
toe should say ; but God says, "Child, I want thee;" He puts into the
child His terrible revelation, and the child speaks it. It is God's delight
to make the last first, and the first last ; and He has always been work- '
ing so as to set the stone which the builders rejected at the head of the
corner. He will not have our greatness ; He will not be put under any
obligation by our strength. He delights to take up the straw blown of
the wind, and to beat down great fortresses by the unlikely weapon.
And so with regard to us. Is there any person here who is saying, " I |
cannot do anything -with God's revelation ; I have had but a poor educa-
tion ; I have had no social advantages ; nobody knows my name ; what
can I do ?" Let me say to the little girl and the little boy, God can
make use even of you. The dew-drop is God's, as well as the great sea. '
He can make use of you ; what you have to do is to say to Him, " Lord,
just make me what Thou pleasest." That is all He wants ; and through
your little faculties, your little power, He can send His messages of
mercy and His denunciations of judgment ; and so the pooi-est of us can i
be God's ministers. Do not despise the humblest ministiy. God hath
chosen the weak things of this world to confound the mighty. Yes, and
more than that ; we can follow Him to that point ; We can say, " We
understand this in part ;" but after that He turns round upon us, and
leaves our understanding quite away in the darkness, because He pro-
ceeds from choosing weak things to choose " things that are not, to bring
to nought things that are, that no flesh should glory in His presence."
He could sweep us away from His sanctuary, and work with Al mighti-
ness, and with perfect effect. Who are we, then, that we should say we
are necessaiy to God 1 Not one of us is necessary to Him. If He have
set any one of us uj), and said, " Be thou my voice, my trumpet to this
people," it is to our honour ; it is for our blessing, and not because we

44 THE CITY TEMPLE.

are necessary to Him. The most gifted speakers may sit in silence ; the
high priests of eloquence may abandon the pulpit and the altar ; the
gi'eatest teachers amongst us may shut up their books, and say they will
teach no more. God will strike the very stones into eloquence, and
little children shall be His mighty army. To be made little, believe me,

' is the way to be made great. When we are nothing in our own eyes,
truly our foot is set on the first step that leads to the throne.

It would appear to be a difficult lesson for the Church to learn,
that God will choose His own instruments. In spite of a thousand
proofs of sovereignty in this matter, the Church will stubbornly try
to have 'a hand in the choice of ministers. Now that civilization has
become a very devil to us, we say that God's agents shall not be
carpenters, fishermen, tent-makers, or ploughmen. No, certainly not ; they
shall be sons of gentlemen, they shall have hands unhardened by labour;
they shall be favourites of conventional fortune. God will not have
this ; He will not be indebted to His creatures. The shepherd shall
be entrusted with His thunder, and the husbandman shall wield His
lightnings ; the little child shall subdue the dragon, and the suckling
shall not be afraid of the cockatrice. Let us ofier ourselves to God,
if haply He will take us into His service ; let us not go with boasting
and confidence, as if we could give God anything, but with submission
and willingness, and then shall we receive noble and effective strength.

" And the Lord said to Samuel, I will bring against Eli all the things
that I have spoken concerning his house." Here we come upon the
third idea of our morning's lesson, namely, that God worhs through
secondary agencies. He does not go to Eli, and say to himself what he

I intends to do, but he sends a child to tell him. And if we knew what
life really is, we should know that God is always sending messages to us
by each other. If I have laid hold of life rightly ; if I am aught before
God but a stock or a stone ; if I have seen at all into the way of His
woi'king, then every child is my minister, and every man a teacher sent
from God to me. Yes, all children are preachers ; all little children are
God's ministers ; and people from whom we never expected to hear

! anything may be channels of communication between our Father and our
souls. Set it down as a great lesson, that you may learn something from
every man, and often from the unlikeliest of men you may get a word

* that may solve a mystery, or yield an unexpected blessing.

God speaks to Samuel, not to Eli. There is mediation. God sends a
message to Jacob's family, not thi-ough Jacob himself, but through
Joseph. There is mediation. God speaks not to Israel, not to Pharaoh,
directly and immediately, but through Moses. There is mediation. And
this is God's plan in the world — a plan of ministry, agency, mediation.

THE CALLING OF SAMUEL. 4-5

So one man may bless another ; and there is no creature, however poor
and little and obscure, who cannot render service to the greatest of God's
saints.

We are only true to one another as we are the instruments, so to
speak, of communicating Divine revelation to one another. In proportion
as any one of you can speak to me a word from God, you are my friend
and helper and benefactor ; and only in proportion as from this pulpit
I can breathe out God's word, and not my own, shall I be to you as a ^
prophet sent from heaven, a teacher come from the Father. One man
blessing another gives us a dim hint of what is meant by God blessing
all men through the Man Christ Jesus. So we get step by step out of
our own little plans and reasonings up to Gild's great system of mediation,
interposition, salvation, through the Son of His love. You cannot go
immediately to God — the Infinite, Omnipotent, Everlasting Jehovah ;
we see not Him, but we see Jesus, His Son, and that is enough. Every
})rayer we send up to heaven must go right through Christ's Bethlehem,
and Christ's Calvary, and Christ's Mount of Ascension — right throxigh
all Christ's work ; and then it will come back again through the same
road, a blessing, a song, a triumph. God blesses all men through Jesus
Christ. This is what we mean by a mediatorial system : some one
standing between God and man, the medium of communication from
above and from below ; and that this medium should be God's Son is a
mystery that becomes a blessing when laid hold of by an appreciative love.

I am afraid that many hearers are kept back from the safety and joy
of Christian redemption, because they do not avail themselves fully of
the meaning of mediation. They think they can go straight wp to God, f
and argue out the question of sin with Him face to face. They do not
realize the difference between God and themselves ; they think the
finite can stand on equal terms with the Infinite, and that, after all,
the question of degree has nothing to do with the question of sin.
Now, if there is any lesson which God has been teaching the world
more contiguously and clearly than another, it is the lesson of media-
tion. The angel, the priest, the vision of the night, the weird prophet,
the ecstatic psalmist, have all been emj)loyed by Him to give messages,
to offer terms of reconciliation, or to denounce judgments. Last of all
came the fulfilment and explanation of all : Jesus Christ came to reveal
the Father. He is the way, the truth, and the life. No man can go
unto the Father but by Jesus Christ. No man knoweth the Father but
the Son, and He to whom the Son will reveal Him. So we live in a
great *' System of Ministry :" we act mediately ; we do not see the glory,
we see the grace ; we do not look upon the Father's face, we see the
human image of the Son of God.

iQ TUE CITY TEMPLE.

Samuel ran to Eli and said, " TIiou calledst me." This gives us our
fourth idea, namely — the j^ossibility of mistaking God's voice as an ordi-
nary call. God can speak so humanly as to be only as a man to us.
Now it is better so to hear as to give the voice of a prophet the authority
of God, than to regard the authority of God but as the ordinary call
of a prophet. This possibility of mistaking the Divine voice for an
ordinary appeal makes our life a very critical experience. We may be
hearing God without knowing it. We may in external nature be doing
this. Send a clown out this morning, in all this baptism of autumnal
fire, and it is nothing to him ; but send a poet out, and he sees a ladder
the top of which rests on the gates of heaven, and he hears in all the
sunny air music and joy, psalm and hymn, and heavenly rapture ; send
out a man of dull, prosaic mind into the spring, and he sees nothing

in it :

" A primrose by the rivei-'s brim /

A yellow primrose is to him ;
And it is nothing more."

Let the eye of an appreciative observer light upon the primrose, and
it flames with the presence of the God of Abraham, and Isaac, and
Jacob. Is it possible that any of us could have come through all this
beautiful light into God's house without seeing anything in it more than
common daylight ?

" Cleon hears no anthems ringing
lu the air and sky ;
To me all Natiu-e's ever singing,
Earnest hstener, I."

Eloquence is in the hearer ; pictures are in the vision. Tou and I may
look at a picture and think nothing of it ; an artist may tremble before
it, and say, " I, too, am a painter." You and I may hear a discourse,
and see nothing in it ; another man, who has a hearing ear, listens, and
is transported with delignt : to him a tone is a revelation, a look is
a vision from God. It is so in the daily events of our life ; we mistake
the Divine for the human. You may cross a street, and not know the
reason why, and in that very crossing you may unconsciously be obeying
a Divine suggestion. You may hold over the letter-box a letter, and
suddenly you may say, " I'll not send it by this post," and your not
sending it may occasion you a blessing that you never thought of. You
cannot account for these things. You say, " I thought just at the last
moment I would not do so ;" but that is a fool's explanation of life. I
rather believe that God's angels are just overhead, or just by our side,
and that we do things by Divine impulse without always knowing
what we are in reality doing. You say, " Yes, but don't let us

THE CALLISG OF SAMTEI. 47

be superstitious." I answer, I am more afraid of people losing
Toleration than I am a&aid of their becoming superstitious ; sjid it
is a poor life that does not b^in in veneration, and continue in
worship to the end. Here, then, is the proper attitude of a servant
of God — the attitude of a listener : " Speak, Lord, for Thy servant
heareth." My position before God, if I am right-hearted, is that
of a listenrar. I do not reveal,'! can but receive ; I do not originate, I
can but reproduce ; I am not a voice, I am but an echo. " Speak, Lord,
for Thv sa-vant heareth." Are any of you like myself in the public
ministiy of the Gospel I This is the way I am persuaded to get our
sermons : go to God's throne, and with GkMTs book in our hand, say with
the simplicity of litde duldren, " Speak, Lord, for Thy servant hearetii."
Are any o{ you teachers in the school I The same rule applies to yon.
Are any of you earnest Christian students of this book ? The same law
is yours : " Speak, lyDrd, for Thy servant heareth." Good listening is not
easily obtained. We may think we are listening while we are in reality
listening to our own inner voice, and not to God's revelation- What we
want is reverent, perfect listening, the utter silencing of our own voice,
and waiting upon God with openheartedness and willingnes to hear
Him. And here is the proper spirit for one who receives Divine com-
munications : " It is Ihe Lord." Xot defence, not defiance, no angry i
criticism of the revelation, but submission : '•' It is the Lord"

And now, having spoken of God's calls to me, let me repeat one
passage of Scripture, " God, who at sundry times and in divers manners
spake in times past unto the fiithers by the prophets, hath in tiiese last '
days spoken unto us by His Sc>n." So it is not SamueL it is not Elijah,
it is not Ezekiel that speaks to us, but God's own dear Son. He says,
" Come unto me all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give
you rest." He says. '•'If any man thirst, let hixn come unto me and
drink." He says, " Rim that cometh unto me I will in no wise cast
oaL" This is God's call ; Chrisf's call at an unlikely time it may be,
through an unlikely person it may be, often mistaken as an ordinary
voice it may be, but this ir Christ's call. Shall we now, every one of us,
the sinner, child, and alien, say, ** Speak, Lord, for Thy servant heareth I"
Blessed are they who so stand before God

A PEOPOSITION TO MINISTEES OF ALL DENOMINATIONS.

It has occiarred to me that when so many of us meet every Thursday, we might
turn our meeting to special advantage by holding weekly, fortnightly, or monthly
councils on the work of the ministry. Why not get to know one another's methods
of preaching, by a free discussion of plans of sermons ? Why not encourage provo-
cation to love and good works, by a candid comparison of one another's methods of
pastoral labour ? I know of no means so likely to do us good as ministers as
meetings for such pui-poses. Chiirchmen have their congresses, Wesleyans their
conferences, Independents, Presbyterians, and Baptists their own respective
reunions ; why should not all meet in one common council, for the express purpose
of aiding each other in reaching the highest point of pulpit power ? We should thus
destroy Sectarianism ; we should enlarge our acquaintance with pulpit methods, and
infuse new life into our ministry. I should be disposed to suggest that the work
of such a council should include criticism upon the public reading of the Scriptures,
remarks upon methods of conducting devotional exercises, and a free review of
homiletic outlines ; it being understood, of course, that each member of the council
present himself for the criticism cf the whole number. To such a council I should
gladly invite the senior students of all colleges. I propose that such a council be
established, and now hereby invite communications on the subject. When I have
received sufficient replies to justify me in taking further steps, I shall not hesitate
to call a meeting for the settlement of a plan. Let it be understood, once for aU,
that the coiincil knows nothing of denominationalism : it is open to all ; it offers a
Catholic platform ; it abhors all controversy that does not tend to the establishment
of the heart in love. Yet there is one point to which reference must be made. It
is only candid on my part, as the proposer of the council, to say that I could not
meet on equal terms any man, however eminent his abilities or position, who denies
the Godhead of Jesus Christ. I hate with inexpressible hatred the doctrine that
would prevent any man saying to the Saviour, " My Lord and my God." I turn
with disappointment and horror from teaching that is negative on this point. I
honour all that is good in freedom ; but to be free from truth is to be in bondage to
the devil. I speak only of the doctrine, not of its teachers ; against persons honest
and intelligent I say not one word, but against the doctrine I burn with unquench-
able fire.

Report of a Seiivice conducted by

JOSEPH PAEKEE,

In the Poultry Chapel, on Sunday Moening, October 10th, 1869.

Let us read tlie 62ud chapter of Isaiah ; it is the exclamation of one
who is determiaed to take the kingdom of heaven by violence. The
prophet seems to gather up all forces in himself, as if everything
depended on his personal energy, and to resolve upon the immediate
attainment of great blessings. Let us hear the sublime passion of a man
whose soul is wrought to the highest intensity.

^\^t liragtr*

Almighty God, may a man speak unto Thee face to face, uttering the
thanksgivings of many hearts, the confessions of the sins of the people,
and a cry for Thy pardoning mercy, without which we cannot live?
Wilt Thou so reveal Thyself unto us as to leave no doubt of Thy
presence, giving us such drawing, such enlightening of mind, such
enlargement and quickening of our affections, as shall constrain vis to
say. This is the Lord's doing, this is the Lord's house, and this is the
gate of Heaven 1 We have had familiar intercourse with ovir Father ;
we have felt His neax-ness ; our hearts have leaped for joy at His
drawing nigh. Why not repeat the visit of Thy grace, now that on the
morning of Thy holy day, in the midst of the great city, we may feel
that Thou art near our hearts with infinite blessing and love 1 We
praise Thee for Thy marvellous woi'ks towards us as creatures of Thine
hand. Thou hast preserved our life, and given us in continuance of
days a new song. Thou hast spread our table in the wilderness, in the
presence of our enemies, and so Thou hast given us renewed cause

50 THE CITY TEMPLE.

to adore Thy goodness and trust Thy power. Thou hast sent a plentiful
rain upon Thine inheritance, and caused us to enjoy the odours of the
garden of the Lord. Thou hast given us an interest in things not seen.
Thou hast called us unto Eternal Life. Thou hast put Death under our
feet. Thou hast come to us in unexpected ways ; not always along the
high-road of Thy daily Providence, where we have expected to meet
Thee — where we have prepared for Thy coming, and waited confidently
for Thine appearing. Thou hast come to us in many of the incidents of
life, when we did not expect Thee. Thou hast given us blessings out of
the cloud. Thou hast turned the darkness into sudden light. Thou
hast given us a goodly heritage in places where we expected to mourn
and die. So that, altogether, Thou hast been gracious unto us with
exceeding favour. Thy great daily gifts have not teen withheld, and
other gifts Thou hast given with them, so that our cup runneth over.
Our hands are full of the blessings of the Lord, and our hearts have been
made as the treasure-house of His grace. We live in God. We have
no life but in Thy light. It is enough. We are immortal in our God ;
we are everlasting in the Everlasting Father. We beseech Thee, there-
fore, that we may be enabled to bring the power of an endless life
to bear upon the concerns of the present time. May we deal with the
afiairs of Earth as those whose conversation is in Heaven ! May we
descend upon the concerns of time with the lofty dignity and the
impatient urgency of those who would quickly return unto the higher
places, in which their souls delight ! Keep us from long-tarrying in the
market-places of the world. Keep us from long-lingering in the high-
ways and streets of commerce and pleasure and self-promotion. While
we are there, may we ever be in haste. May we ever be looking
forward and aspiring towards the highest service and joy of Thy children.
May men take knowledge of our impatience I May men wonder
concerning our hurry in the world, and be led to know that our citizen-
fehip is in Heaven, that here we have no continuing city, and that, by our
impatient haste, we are declaring plainly that we seek a country ! Oh,
that we may so live as to think of death only as a step over a shadow
into the Infinite brightness and the unending peace ! We bless Thee,
that we have known distaste for the things of the world. We have
seen their vanity, we have sounded their hollowness. We have left the
altar of the world with a sickened heart, and Thou hast drawn us into
the sanctuary, and thrown before our wondering vision the things that
are not seen and eternal, and filled ixs with a holy desire to go and be
for ever with Thee. And yet Thou hast enabled us to do what we have
had to do upon the earth with fidelity and earnestness and success.
Such is the mystery of Thy government ; for when we are most heavenly,

THE PRAYER. 51

tlien do we triumph most entirely over the trifles of time ; wlien we are
most in the sanctuary of the skies, we are most masters of the things
that lie round about us in this poor, gloomy, dying scene. Hence have
we known that " godliness is profitable unto all things ;" and when we
have been seeking lirstthe kingdom of heaven and His righteousness,
Thou hast added unto us all other things. We have sinned before
the Lord. If any man say he hath no sin, he is a liar, and the
truth is not in him ; but if we confess our sins, Thou art faithful and
just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. We
do confess our sins. God be merciful unto us sinners. If we h.ive
escaped public accusation, yet do our own hearts convict us of a thousand
transgressions. If our hand cannot be impeached by the social justice of
the world, yet in oiir spirit have we hidden sin. We have gone asti-ay
I'roni God in our hearts ; our motives have often been mixed, and often
impure. And if Thou wert strict to mark it, if Thou didst take hold of
Thy sword when we gave the occasion for judgment, behold we had
not lived in Thy sight to-day. But thou art merciful ; Thou sent Thy
Son Jesus Christ, equal with Thyself in Godhead, to be our Saviour, to
offer a sacrifice for sins, and because of His work we have hope in God
that our sins shall be remembered no more. Lord, help us in the delight
of pardon, to triumph over the tormenting memory of our conscience,
and to have peace through our Lord Jesus Christ. Thou hast sent much
sunlight to some of us. Thou hast poured Thy brightness upon us,
filling our hearts and our houses with the beauty of joy. To some
Thou hast sent the cloud, and the storm, and the great dai'kness. Thou
hast taken away the delight of the eye and the support of the life, and
Thou hast made some hearts poor with a deep and terrible poverty. Bat
when Thou dost impoverish, it is that Thou mayest make rich with the
more enduring wealth. When Thou dost tear. Thou dost bind up again ;
when Thou dost smite, Thou dost recover Thy smitten ones. We pray
for those who worship to-day, sore in heart, troubled, stunned by great
sorrow, bliuded with the bitterest teai-s they ever shed. O Thou who
knowest our poor life, Who rememberest that we are dust, do Thou
re establish, and comfort, and uphold all those Thy people who are now
mourning before Thee. Enable them to say with simple trust, though
with much sorrow, and wonder, and distress, "The Lord gave and the
Lord hath t&ken away ; blessed be the name of the Lord." Thou dost
give such triumphs to faith, Thou dost call Thy people to such victories
as these ; and oftentimes we have proved Thee, that when the darkness
was deepest upon our soul, Thou didst come to us with unexpected and
all-reviving blessing. Thanks be unto God who always causeth us to
jtriumph. And as for those who begin the world without a hiuuan father,

52 THE OIT^ TEMPLE,

who to day have no father upon the earth, Thou wilt be unto them more
than father and mother. Thou lovest little children ; Thou knowest the
mystery of young life, and Thou wilt not forget any orphan child of Thy
great family. There are no orphans in the Church ; our Father is an
everlasting Father. Be with the strangers within our gates who have
come to spend a morning with us. May it be to them a memorable
morning — a time of stimulation and joy ! May some be comforted ; may
some be encouraged ; may all be taught and editied ! And unto the
triune God our Father, Saviour, and Sanctifier, be the kingdom, tlu-
])0wer, and the glory. Amen.

Q^be Scvman.

(J

ON BLESSINGS IN UNEXPECTED WAYS.

" It is expedient for you that I go away." — John xvi. 7.

TiiE text calls us to meditate vipon some of the sudden and unexpected
changes in Divine movements. Sometimes heavenly blessings come to
us, so to speak, by steps so clearly marked, so orderly, and so natui'al,
that we can almost calculate how and in what measure they will descend
upon us. Sometimes God gives us blessings to our reason ; we have
thought about them, prepared for them, felt assured that by a kind of
gracious necessity they must be ours ; and sometimes He has given us
blessings iu sudden and startling ways. "VVe have been in a position,
again and again, to expect our blessings. We have looked for them as
for friends that were pledged to come ; and we have been able to say,
almost with positive certainty when they would come, and how they
would come, because God has appointed channels of communication with
His creatures. There is, then, if I may say so, a division in the Divine
government aboixt which men can calculate, and reason, and foretell with
almost perfect certainty ; and there is another division in the Divine
government about which we know nothing — sudden breakings out upon
us, startling innovations upon ovir life, voices that we never heard before
and manifestations for which we were entirely unprepared. So this
morning I am not going to look at the commonplace and ordinary method
of the Divine movement, but to turn aside, and look at some of what are

ON BLKSSINGS IN UNEXPECTED WAYS. 53

to US God's sudden, unexpected, mystei-ious visitations, in ways tliat we
never thought of as being accessible, except in the way of judgment and
reti'ibution. Sometimes you can say in the morning that it will rain
to-day. You say that the wind is in this quarter, or in that, and
the clouds ai*e gathering, and there are evident signs that we shall have
rain to-day ; and sometimes we say, Oh, that I'ain would come ! " Oh,
that out of this great Arch of Summer a baptism of rain would come ! "
but there is no sign of any such blessing. And sometimes quite suddenly,
.baffling all the speculations and calculations of the meteorologist, some-
times out of the very fire of the scorching summei", there has come down
upon us an unexpected and gracious rain. So it is in the Divine move-
ment. Sometimes I am enabled to say, We shall have a blessing to-day.
Such and such preparation has been made ; such and such endeavours
have been maintained, and the natural result of this process is blessing,
grace, peace, tiiumph. And then, sometimes, on the other hand, we
have said, "There shall be nothing to-day." "The heart is barren, the
inner voice is smitten with sudden dumbness, there will be nothing for
us to-day but stony silence. It will be a day of fasting and sorrow."
And, quite unexpectedly, God has sent his angel with blessings we had
never thought of; and when we looked for a dreary day, a day of fast
ing and gloom, God has opened the windows of heaven for us, and given
us blessings that it had never entered into our calculations to foretell.
It is so with many of the Divine movements ; and yet we often vex God,
when He comes to us by unwonted ways. Though He has come to us
through the pathway of a thousand storms, yet we still tremble before
the gathering gloom, as if God had forgotten to be gracious. Though
He has come to us with the wings of many a fire, we have still dreaded
the flame, as if it tabernacled no God. Have you thought about that
dej)artment of your sin 1 I have thought of it many a time. We will
not let God have any extraordinary methods of manifestation to us. We
will have yesterday repeated to-day, and to-day is to be the image and
prophecy of the morrow. And yet God will not have it so. He will
come to us, not always by the great grand staircase of His daily Pro-
vidence, when we can see Him as it were descending in all the pomp of
His Infiniteness, but He will come to us along passages, and down by-
lanes, and will start up before us suddenly and unexpectedly ; and it is
then we become so weak as oftentimes to grieve Him, as if He had not
ten thousand ways into His universe beside the one way that we speak
ofas His peculiar path.

Now, here is one of the instances of unexpected blessing, of unexpected
movements, of movements that escape all calculation, and set aside all
that the heart would have predicted. I propose, therefore, to look at

54 THE CITY TEMPLE.

this text in the first instance as reversing otir own notions of the Divine
movement. " It is expedient for you that I go away." We cannot see
that. It does not look so to \is. Let us, therefore, be fair and candid
with the spirit of the text. It looks to me exactly the contrary of that ;
and I should thei'efore say it is inexpedient for us that Christ go away.
It is the blackest and direst calamity that can befall us that Christ go
away ; and yet He says expressly, iix words that a little child may
understand, It is expedient for you that I go away. Here, then, is an
upset of our ordinary notions. We should have said this, viz., " Jesus
Christ must remain upon the earth until the very last sotil is saved. He
must be the last to go away. He must stand by the grave tintil He sees
every saint pass througli it — until the last little child is winged as a
cherub — and then, when He has seen all this done, let Him go." That is
how we sbould have talked ; and not, I think, without common sense,^
viewing the subject in a purely earthly light. Walking in the light of
our own understanding — in the light of daily fears, in the light of what
is called prudence and discretion — we should have said, Blessed Saviour,
Thou must remain until the veiy last gleain of day, and when Thoii hast
seen the very last of Thy recovered lambs enfolded in the high moun-
tains of Israel, then Thou must also come and complete the great
assembly in heaven. Instead of that, He says, I must go first ; I must
go now, and it is expedient for you that I go away. And so God is
constantly, in all the processes of our daily life, upsetting our notions ;
this we do not like, and it takes a great deal of hard and terrible drill
to bring a man to this point, viz., " God is King, let Him do what
s^emeth good in His sight." It would appear that God will not have-
our calculations. It would appear as if He took special delight in
proving our calculations to be mistakes. So we can never get on twa
days at a time. We say, To-morrow shall be as this day, and more
abundant, and the third day we shall go into this and yonder city ; and
God says, No, I will break your days in two, and where you expect
prosperity you shall find a grave. So God won't have our long-headed
calculations, and He will not have our deluded predictions as to this
event and that. It would seem, I repeat, as if He took special delight
in reversing all our ordinary methods, and training us to wisdom by first
con\ncting us of folly. It is so, for example, in our social life. We
should have said this : " God will never take away the head of a house
until all the childi-en have been trained, educated, and established in life.
God will certainly see that the father of the family remain until his last
little child leaves his roof a man, a woman." And yet God says, " No,
the head of the family must go first ;" and He says this also, " It is
expedient for you that your father go ;" and the heart cannot say, ''It

ON BLESSINGS IN UNEXPECTED WAYS. 55

is well." N"o, that cannob be. But God is always doing that ; always
turning our ideas upside down, and appointing us blessings where we
expected despair. We should have said that God will allow every man
to bring his work to something like completion ; He will never go and
break the little bud off the stem ; He will never allow a man to work
up his column, and not to put the capital on ; He will never allow an
author to begin a volume without allowing him also to finish it, to
revise it, to attach his signature to it by way of endorsement, and to
hand it to society as a complete thing. And yet He is doing exactly
the opposite of this. You say, Here is a beautiful little bud, and it
shall be nourished with light and with dew, and become the best flower
in the garden ; and God comes in at night, and nips it off, and in the
morning we have tears and sorrow. We begin to build our pillar, and
it is growing under our touch, and we say. This shall be a beautiful
column, a noble pillar ; it shall be capped in the most elaborate style of
sculpture ; and God takes us away just as we are putting on the head,
and our purposes are bi-oken off. And as for the author, poor man !
just as he dips his pen to finish a sentence, God says. That will do ; and
He punctuates the paragraph with Death. That is a fact ; but this is
what we are perplexed by, viz., when God takes away the little blushing
bud, and breaks the column in twain, and arrests the hand of genius in
its wondrous fabrications, and then says, It is expedient for yoic that it
be so. And it is at this point that we either become strong men by the
triumph of faith, or we succumb as the captives of unbelief.

Let us look at the text, then, in another light, viz., as showing the
superiority of the spiriifMil over the material. It was a great thing to
have the visible Christ j it is a greater to have the spiritual Christ. This
is a most difficult point in human education, viz., to proceed from the
letter to the spirit — from the material to the immaterial. And this is
the difference in scholarship — one man is learned in the letter, another
is learned in the Spirit ; the one is a reader, the other is a genius. In
proportion as we get spiritual power are we rich for ever. You lose
your friend, but you never lose his friendship. Death breaks up the
assembly, biit he never impairs the fellowship. Death hushes the com-
munications of the lips ; He cannot silence the more eloquent inter-
changes of the heart. Those whom we truly love are always with us —
not always audible, but always present. You have not lost that child of ^
yours you buried ten years ago. The little creature is still with you-
And oh, what talks you have together now ! When you go out alone,
the little one seems to know where you are and to come to you ; and
your face does so brighten, and your breast does so heave with unwonted
and blessed emotion, as you talk over the days that are gone. And even

56 THE CITY TEMPLE.

that prodigal child of yours is with you to-day. You cannot see Mm —
you may not, perhaps, know his address — you may be unable to write to
him, yet the lad is close to your heart. You see him when you retire to
I'est ; you look at him in the morning as he is standing by your bedside ;
and he is with you all the day, notwithstanding his sin, and perhaps (so
wondei'ful are the mysteries of the heart), the nearer because of his sin.
There seems to go out after him a realizing love, deep and agonizing ;
and if he wovild but come back again, there would be more joy in your
heart over that recovered one, than over all the family that never gave
you a moment's pain. But I want to fix the mind, you observe, simply
upon this point, viz., the realizing power of love. My friend has gone
away from me over the sea and beyond the mountain, but I have him in
my heart ; his thoughts, his views of life, his behaviour under given cir-
cumstances, his noble impatience, magnanimous scorn of all that is low
and mean, never leave me ; they will mould my life, they will save
me in many a temptation. He is with me always because of the
realizing power of love. And this that we know something about in
friendship, in the family circle, in literature, reaches its highest con-
summation in Jesus Christ ; for though He has gone away from us, He
says, "I am with you always, even unto the end of the world." Though
we cannot see Him, yet He says, " I will never leave thee nor forsake
thee." Though we would gladly lay hold of His wounded hand. He
says it is better not. It is expedient for you that fleshly contact cease,
and that you lay hold of Him by the tendrils of your love. For what if
we did grasp hands. Death would break up our union ; but if we grasp
hearts, we are one for ever.

N"ow, do not expect young Christian people at once to get up into that
high line of Christia.n experience. I am not unwilling that you should
continue the child's song —

" T think when I read that sweet story of old,
When Jesus was here among men,
How He called little children like lambs to His fold,
I should like to have been with Him then."

It is a poor prayer that you will come to dislike more and more the
longer you live, though it is a beautiful song for children. You will
come to know what it is to say you are glad that Christ is known to you
no more after the flesh, but now is known to you through the hunger of
eager love, through the thirst of your heart, through the desires of an
unquenchable life.

Then let us look at this t«xt in the third place, as conveying blessing
to us through the medium of a trial. It must have been a trial for

ON BLESSINGS. IN UNEXPECTED WAYS. O t

these simple, unlettered men to lose the presence of the visible, personal
Jesus Christ, It could not have been an easy thing from svich men.
Try to realize their circumstances, if you would get really into the spirit
of the text. It could not have been an easy thing for them to acquiesce
in this bereavement, and yet Jesus Christ distinctly points out that He
was going away for their sakes, and not for His own. He did not say,
" My brethren, I am weary ; this world is too heavy a load for me ; I
have seen you for a little while, and my heart is sickened and sore and
weary, and I nuist go away again." He did not speak about Himself at
all. He said, " It is expedient for you that I go away." And do not
let us think this strange, because we ourselves have had experience that
may help to illuminate the mystery of this separation. For example, here
is a mother who is teaching her little child to walk. You know what a
pleasure it is to see a little creature taking its first walk from one chair
to another 1 I do not think I shall ever forget the first time I taught
a little child to walk, and the joy I had in seeing the little toddling
creature manage to go three steps without my help. There came to me
a sense of triumph, a sense of somet^hing done. Well, here is a mother
teaching her child to walk from one chair to another, and she begins by
holding the child's waist gently with both hands, and as the little thing
steadies itself, and seems to have found its feet, she just takes away her
hands little by little. Why does she take away her hands 1 Does she
say, " I am tired ; I do not like this posture of embracing thee, or
of holding thee " 1 No, but she says in effect, " It is expedient for tliee,
my little child, that I take away this motherly support ; thou must
learn to walk by thyself;" and so the hands go away, not because the
mother is weary, but because the child must be taught, sooner or later,
self-reliance.

Here is a father sending his boy to school, and there is such a dreary
night before he must go. The father and the mother half think they
may never see him again. He has never been out of their sight for
twenty-four hours, and now they are going to send him away to a distant
school, and the mother hardly sleeps all night, and the father gets up at
an unusually early hour, and altogether there is a general sense of a sort of
domestic earthquake in the house, because the youth is going to be sent to
school. Now, why all this discomfort I Why do not they keep him at home '?
Why do not they keep him constantly in their sight 1 They say it is expe-
dient for liim that our jDresence be withdrawn ; it is expedient that he
escape the temptations of home ; it is expedient for him that he undergo
drill and discipline ; it is expedient for him that he meet his equals in
the great scholarly contest ; it is expedient for him, and on that principle
the father strengthens himself, and the mother makes herself a strong

58 THE CITY TEMPLE.

woman, and they bid him good-bye, not with delight, and yet with a
secret comforting conviction that it is for the youth's good that he
undergo this separation. So then we know something of this — we
know something of trial in this direction ; and this kind of trial reaches
the perfection of its meaning in Jesus Christ's separation from His
Church. He says, It is expedient for you that I go away ; I shall always
be with you nevertheless ; yet by my bodily absence you will be trained
to thought^ you will be trained to spiritual realization, the highest facul-
ties of your natxire will be called into exercise ; and in order that this
may be so, I shall no sooner go away than I shall send down upon you
the Holy Ghost, for the Holy Ghost is better than the dying body, the
Holy Spirit of God better than these pierced feet and these wounded
hands.

My brethren, we shall have a poor notion of life if we regard it as
being a blessing only in proportion as it is a succession of sunny scenes.

I That is not life, it is but one aspect of it. No great life is all made up

\ of sunshine ; we get strong by discipline, we grow by strife. The great
storm I'ocks us into rugged power, and by this power of endurance we

t come into the grace of gentleness. Great sorrows make tender hearts.
We are softened and refreshed by the dew of tears. When we are
weak, then are we strong. You never can be great and reliable, full-
grown men, till your hearts have been crushed within you, and God has
taught you in the gloomy school of a thousand disappointments.

This leads me to say, no true manhood can be trained by a merely
intellectual process. You cannot train men by the intellect alone ; you
must train them by the heart ; and this shows the fundamental mistake
which is being made by some modern teachers. You can never train a
Church out of the head ; you may have a Church so-called, and you may
open halls and bring to them the most scientific men in Euro])e, and you
may lecture on all scientific topics, yet you can never make a Church out

I of the head. You must take hold of manhood by the heart, if you
would train it into strength and dignity and usefulness. A Church,
then, can only come out of the heart. So, if you have been training
yourselves only by the intellect, I do not wonder at your being a poor
and shrivelled Church. I never find a Church that takes hold of the
head alone going forward, I find it progressing backwards ; and I thank
God that I see it shrivelling out of existence. But in a Church whose
fundamental principle is this, With the heart man believeth itnto
righteousness, I find humanity, tenderness, jiobleness, benevolence, and
divinity; and this is the secret of Christ's power over man. He does
not come to discuss with them some empty conundrum, some wretched
enigma, that challenges only the intellect j He sets Himself down in the

ON BLESSINGS IN UNEXPECTED WAYS. 59

heart, and trains that, brings that, into the liberty of His blessed captivity,
and oiit of the heart there comes His kingdom, wliich never can be moved
So I have no fear about these people that are setting up Churches of
Pi'ogx-ess, and Churches of Science, and Churches of Literatui-e ; I have
no fear of them emptying Christian sanctuaries, because a man is not all
head. If he is, he is not all man. You must lay hold of his heart, and
by his affections and by all his moral sympathies you must train him,
and then he will be ready to receive all the light, all the knowledge you
can possibly convey to him ; but if you train only his intellect, you do
but plant flowers upon a ghastly tomb.

And I would say, finally, in one word, that the text may be regarded
as giving the proper explanation of Jesus Christ's body absence — I go
away. The words must be regarded as revealing part of a plan — I go
away ; I am not sent, I am not surprised away ; I am moving according
to a scheme, a plan. There are no unexpected thoughts in the mind
of God. The changes that are strange and startling to us are links in
the chain of God's own fashioning. Lay hold of this, and you escape
the atheism of chance, and come into the peaceful religion of familiar
trust. Therefoi-e, in proportion as I think of God's government as a
plan am I at rest. In proportion as I take it to pieces and discuss it
in detail am I vexed, and troubled, and disappointed. When I think
of God building a great temple, I say, Give Him time till He brings
the topstone on, and says it is finished. And be careful, too, lest
you mistake the scaifolding for the temple. God often requii-es, as it
were, laborious scafiblding ; and when I come to look at His unfinished
temple and see nothing but these great beams, and posts, and planks, I
say, " There is no temple here, there is nothing but confusion ; " but
God says to me " Wait, wait." And I come back and back ; and when
I return on the last day to look at it, all the scaffolding is gone. Then
shall I find the floor laid with fine gold, and the roof lighted with such
beauty as was never painted by the brush of the artist.

Some of you need this lesson. I speak in the presence of some who
have come to-day as mourners, and they need to be gently reminded that
God is working out a plan — one thing belongs to another — that there is
nothing fragmentary and detached and isolated in God's movement.
Where we see confusion. He sees a plan, and He is working it out.
You need that gentle hint. May it fall like morning-light on your
troubled hearts !

Our youngest deacon, Mr. Thomas Russell, a man much respected by
all who knew him, has been suddenly taken away. A few nights ago
I spoke to him in one of the pews of this chapel. He was proposing an
arrangement for my comfort in connection with the Thm'sday service.

60 THE CITY TEMPLE.

I saw nothing noticeable about liim to lead me to infer that he was not
in good health. I parted with him then, as friend with friend, and now
he has been taken away as by a stroke — withdrawn as in an instant.
And such events as these ought not to pass without reminding us, that
at such an hour as we think not, the greatest events in life occur. You
and I. meet to-day ; we may never meet again. You are now in your
usual state of health ; to-morrow you may be gone. I am now speaking
as a strong man, rejoiciug to run a race; before next Sunday I may be
with the general assembly of the first-born. "What then 1 Whatsoever
your hand fiudeth to do, do it with all your might.

Though the Saviour has gone away, He has made a path into the
Heavenly Kingdom for us. He will not suffer us to rest short of His
own Throne. " Where I am, there shall ye be also." Could we but see
things as they are, we should see the wliole Church all over the woi'ld
move in one grand procession towards the gate of the Upper City,
a band of freemen, an army of conquerors, having banners dipped in
light, and singing of the Cross that gives them the right of way to their
Father's house. We cannot see things as they are. This is the day of
cloud and gloom ; the full brightness is not yet.

Eeport of a Service conducted by

JOSEPH PAEKER,

In the Poultry Chapel, on Thursday Morning, October 14th, 1869.

Clje <Stnn0tT,

ON THE POWER AND WEAKNESS OF MONEY.

* ' What shall a man give in exchange for his soul ? "

"Money answereth all things."

"Ye shall be redeemed without money."

" Money answereth all things."

' ' Thy money perish with thee. "

" Money answereth all things."

" He that hath no money come."

"Money answereth aU things."

" I counsel thee to buy of me fine gold."

It is possible that the very greatness of the "word " soul " may have
prevented our apprehension of the gravity of the first inquiry. The
vastness and grandeur of the word require to be approached gradually,
lest we be overwhelmed, and so miss the very point of the question. Some
men may pronounce the word " soul," without attaching miich meaning
to it, and others may imagine that they are attaching so much meaning
to it that there is no fear whatever of their bartering away so precioxis a
possession for anything that the world can give in exchange. This latter
conception may be a device of the devil ; it is quite in his way to
allow men so to magnify themselves and their destiny, as to give him an
opportunity of undermining their foundations, whilst their heads are
lifted up in the delirious exercise of admiring and worshipping them-
selves. It may be instructive, therefore, to take the question somewhat
in detail, and to discuss it from a point which is obvious to the most
common understanding. Suppose, then, that we put the matter thus :
What shall it profit a man, if he gain the whole world and lose his.

b'J THE CITY TEMPLE.

sight ? Any of us can answer that question instantly. Is there any man
in all this congregation who is willing to increase his income a thousand-
fold on the condition of being made blind for the remainder of his life 1
He would have the acres, but not the landscape ; he would part with
morning, and summer, and beauty ; the heavens would be a blank to
him, and the earth a gloomy pit. Is any man here prepared to conclude
such a bargain 1 If so, tell me what Avould he be profited 1 Or say,
What is a man profited, if he gain the whole world and lose his
hearing ? Will any of you put down in figures the extent of his
advantage ? Don't shirk the question ; it is practical, it ought not to be
difficult. Look at the spectacle : a man has gained all the world, but has lost
the voices of his children ; no longer can he be charmed by music ; no more
for ever will he know the power of eloquence ; the spring and the summer
will pass without his hearing one of their ten thousand messages. Say,
then, what is the value of his gain? You who are quick at numbers,
let me demand of you an answer ! Do assign some value to the advan-
tage of this cunning merchant ! Look at him, sitting in stony silence ;
observe his eyes wandering about, expressive of eager curiosity and mocking
bewilderment ; stand before him ; realize his true position, — all men,
all birds, all brooks, all forests, all oceans, dumb to him for ever, — and
tell me instantly what the far-sighted merchant has gained 1 Or, change
the ground, and let us put the inquiry thus : What shall it profit a man,
if he gain the whole world and lose his health ? He shall have all that
is known under the names of property, convenience, luxury, so far as is
possible, but health shall be the price which he shall pay for his vast
proprietorship. He shall lie upon his couch ; his blood shall weakly
pursue its circulation ; the grasshopper shall be a bvirden to him ; the
summer air shall bring no revival of his decaying powers ; the physician
shall be of no service to him ; he shall be the prisoner of pain ; he shall
have no relish for his daily food, yet all the world is lying at his feet ;
and surely some of you arithmeticians and reasoners can tell me how
much the crafty speculator has gained 1 You see how urgent I am in
putting these questions. I feel the supreme importance of having a
clear understanding about such matters. You say that the Christian
teacher is always talking about things that lie a long way from the
inquiries and pursuits of ordinary men ; but now, seeing that I have
come down into your very midst, and put to you questions simple
enough for little children, you cannot blame me if I demand an explicit
answer to inquiries which can hardly admit of controversy. I know
your reply. I give yoii credit for sense enough to answer, that the man
who would give his sight is a fool, that he who would sell his hearing for
the world would make a madman's bargain, and that to give up health

ON THE POWER AND WEAKNESS OF MONEY. 63

for anything that the world can give in return is to commit the crime of
suicide, though with the palliation of insanity. What I want to be felt
is this : that it is possible to resent the suggestion of such excha,nges,
and yet to be doing that which is infinitely worse. Think of it. Possible
to be saving our sight, and yet to be bartering away our manhood ;
possible to retain the faculty of hearing, and yet to be deafening '
ourselves against the voice that appeals to the soul ; possible to be
pi-eserving our health, and yet to be damning our eternity ! Have you
thought sufficiently of this 1 May you not be working in an inverted
order, careful about that which is visible and appreciable in the market-
place, anxioixs to preserve that which is merely decorative, and whose
value can be assigned in common numbers, and yet allowing oppor-
tunities of salvation, development, and eternal blessedness to pass by
without improvement ? See to it, ye shrewd, far-sighted, speculating
men, that when you open your hand to look at your great bargain ye be
not grasping a cold and worthless clod !

Let me do you. the justice to say that there are moments in life when
you do assign true values to earthly possessions ; there are moments of
inspiration in which men see the hollowness of worldly ownership. Look,
for example, at this scene : Here is a ship caught in a terrible storm, ^/
and it is evident that loss must be suffered — the question is where shall
the loss begm ? There are vast quantities of iron, silver, gold, precious
stones, and jewels in the vessel — what shall go first 1 In these moments
of terrible excitement we shall probably escape some of the sophistries of
ordinary reasoning, and get at the inner heart of men. Come, then,
say what shall go first 1 Do the men hesitate for one moment % No !
Let the iron go, then the silver, then the gold, then the precious stones — »
let them all go, only save the bread, save the water ! What, shall the
gold go and the crust be saved % Shall we throw out diamonds, and
pearls, and works of cunning art, and save a glass of cold water ? Men ! '
bethink yourselves what fools are you to throw away fine metals and
precious stones and save a loaf, for which the beggar on the streets of »
any city would hardly thank you ! Is this wise % Is this prudent %
You cannot — you will not hesitate for an instant, everything must go
but the necessaries of life ; nothing has any value compared with the
importance of being saved from the stormy deep ; only, say they, save
us from this grave that is yawning around us, and we shall be your
debtors for ever ! They are content to have nothing but their mere
lives ; no property, no ornaments, no home, no place wherein to rest their
heads — only let them have life, and they will be satisfied and thankful.
Pity, is it not, that it should requii*e a storm to teach some men the first '
principles of common sense ! There is no storm now ; w'e are seated in

64 THE CITY TEMPLE.

tlie peaceful sanctuary; wlay not resolve to put the world under tlie
dominion of our soul, and to show forth heavenly wisdom in the affairs
of our daily life ? Let me remind you that there is a time predicted
when men who have been disobedient to the voice of God shall desire
their very identity to be destroyed, crying Avith unheard or disregarded
voice that the rocks may fall on them and hide them from the wrath
of the Lamb. We have just seen men on the sea willing to give
all they have that their bare existence may be saved ; in the latter
case, we hear of men who desire to die, and death flees from them
in mockery of their importunate prayer.

After hearing the passages of Scripture which have just been recited,
some of you may probably wish to know the docti'ine of Christianity as
to worldly possessions. I do not hesitate to reply, that it is perfectly
possible to have much of the present world, and yet to preserve the
soul in its integrity towards God. There is a false theology of money.
It would appear as if some persons thought that the very act of getting
money was itself wrong. The Scriptures nowhere sanction such a
notion. " Godliness is profitable unto all things having promise of
the life that now is and of that which is to come." Insist upon the old
commonplace doctrine, that it is not the use, but the abuse of the world
which is fatal to many hearts. As a mere matter of fact, known to us
by distressing observation, the saving of money is as a fascination of the
devil to many men ; it absorbs their energies ; it engrosses their time ;
it perverts their moral nature ; it destroys natural affection ; it sets them
on fire of hell. Kept from the sight of gold, they may even bear a
strong resemblance to pious men ; they may be intelligent, genial, and
entertaining, yet the moment their thoughts are turned to the accumu-
lation of property, every trace of nobleness is destroyed. The victim of
the world is entirely without self-conti-ol : every speck of dust is to him
as a shackle of bondage ; he would risk his eternity for a stone or a clod.
At all times he would not know this, for in the moments of his release
from the in-gency of his tormentor he might discover traits of a better
disposition; it is when he is brought again into contact with worldly
concerns that he shows how utterly he is enslaved and xmmanned. I
may remind my young hearers of the tiger that was trained to be the
playmate of a favourite child. Weeks and months and years elapsed, and
the tiger was gentle and playful ; it so happened, however, that in lick,
ing the child's hand it tasted blood, and instantly the natural appetite of
the creature was excited, and the child fell a victim to its ferocity. It
is so in the moral history of many a man : there are breaks in human life
which are filled up with many excellencies, and which apparently give
the lie to the charge of apostasy, and yet suddenly some besetting sin

ON THE POWER AND WEAKNESS OF MONEY. 65

will set the whole nature on fire, and in tlie madness of an hour
the fabric of a lifetime may be overthrown.

To pay the soul away for anything that the world can give, is
the last degree of infatuation. Yet I feel that in talking of paying
the sold away, I may be talking an unknown language, for some
men hardly know themselves to be in possession of souls ; they live
outwards ; they have no inward life ; they live themselves into
fields and bricks, bank-notes, chimney-shafts, and steam-engines. If you
want to know anything about their souls, you must count their bales of
cotton, their sacks of wheat, theii- bars of iron ; jou must not look in
their eyes for the vision that pierces eternity, into their faces for lines of
thought chiselled by sorrow, born of high desire, and lifelong struggle in
pursuit of good ; you must look into their barns, you must measure their
iron safes, you must number their parchments, and set a value on their
cattle, and — and — and — nothing more ! Of course the young man says
that he intends to go just so far, and to turn round when he thinks his
soul in daxager. He says he will not allow himself to be the prey of
avarice ; he will keep the world at arm's length ; nay, more, he will
stand upon the world in sign of his dominion. Let him beware lest his
over-confidence be the occasion of his stumbling. Can a man tui-n
round on the devil's pathway just when he pleases 1 Is it not the devil's
policy to lure the young soul to lengths which admit of no return?
Does the devil allow a man to feel his presence until he has laid such a
grip upon him as cannot be thrown ofi"? Y"ou say you will leave the
place of supposed danger the moment you begin to feel evil effects, but
it is too late then ; to feel the power of the world is to know that you
have become a helpless bondsman. The young man is only safe as he
makes the cultivation of his spiritual nature the one absorbing biisiness
of his life. Everything that is merely secular should occupy a very low
place in his thoughts. With the kingdom of heaven before him as the
goal towards which he is constantly moving, he should hold his head
erect, so as not even to see the gilded allurements by which the world
seeks to accomplish his destruction. Our safety is in having lofty ideals,
and in constant labour to secure their realization. Let the getting of
money be a man's ideal, and he will of necessity grow towards the dust ;
let a man hunger and thirst after the kingdom of God, and he will grow
into strength and enjoy an unspeakable peace.

This leads me to say, that it is quite possible to be poor in this world's
goods and yet to have unsearchable riches. The highest profits in life
cannot be set down in figures. The science of numbers is the science of
mistakes when applied to the soul. The testing questions which a man
should put to himself are these : Am I right with God ? Have I been

66 THE CITY TEMPLK.

crucified with Christ 1 Do I treat this world with the urgent impatience
of a pilgrim who seeks a heavenly country 1 Am I growing in intellec-
tual power 1 Does my love go out in lofty desire towards God 1 Am I
pure, gentle, true, courageous in all good 1 Do bad men hate me, do
oppressors fear me, do honest men brighten at my coming, and bless me
in the name of the Lord 1 Whoso can answer these questions in the
affirmative has unsearchable riches, though he may not have a place
whereon to lay his head. The outward man will perish, but the inward
man is assuredly renewed day by day. In going down, he is in reality
going up — his march towards the grave is an ascent towards the skies.
Be rich in this way, and poverty itself shall be an element in your
wealth ; perish after this fashion, and you will be able to say and sing
with A.ngelo —

^' The more the marble wastes.
The more the statue grows."

It will probably be asked by some young hearers. What is the meaning
of the expression, "Money answereth all things" 1 To this I can reply
best by throwing out a challenge : wi'ite out a list of everything that can
be bought for money, and I will write out a list of things that are to be
had without money and without price. Yoii can write at the head of
your list, " Money answereth all things ;" and I will write at the head of
mine, " Thy money perish with thee." Write your list ; or wait, I will
wiite it for you ; it is but a short and easily-remembered tale. On youi*
list I read as follows — houses, fields, bricks, timber, iron, food, raiment,
wine, horses, paint, gilt, stucco — I may now add &c., for there is nothing
remains but that as of a piece with what has been recited. ISTow let me
refer to the other list, which bears the heading " Thy money perish with
thee :" — Courage, Honour, Truth, Purity, Gentleness, Charity, Peace,
Magnanimity, Power of Intellect, Kindness of Heart, Beauty of Beha-
viour. With money you can buy the canvas and the oil, but not the
artistic eye which interprets and appreciates the picture ; you can buy
the poem, but the living and inspiring poetry is not for sale ; you can
, rent the garden, but cannot bribe the flowers to whisper their tender
messages. After all, it is but a very little way that money can go ; it
can do nearly everything in the market-place or among the dust of cities,
but what do the angels know of your currency, your bills of exchange,
your promissory notes, and your intricate conveyancing of estates l Not one
of the great redemptions of life can be wrought out with money i death
takes no bribe ; the grave will not sell its victories for gold ; you may
buy the Bible, but you cannot buy the Holy Ghost ; you may pay for
the masonry, but no money can put you in possession of the Spirit of
the altar. Such, then, is the power, and such the weakness of money ;

ON THE POWER AND WEAKNESS OF MONEY. 67

sucTi is the little world in which Mammon holds sway, and such the
boundless universe in which the blessings and curses of the money-god
are utterly impotent. Behold, I set before you a choice of courses, and I
would, in the Divine name, urge you to make an instant election ! If men
would boldly say to themselves that they have fully determined to sell
their souls to the ^evil, some social advantage would be the result ; other
men would then be put upon their guard, little children might be kept
out of their way, and society would be able to distribute its confidences
with discrimination. It is when men deceive themselves that the power
of mischief is augmented ; the devil's army is dressed in false clothing,
and many who look only on outward signs are lured into danger, and
di-awn down to death. If you have sold yourselves to the god of this
woi'ld, do say so ; make the fatal transaction publicly known ; avoid the
very semblance of being religious ; do not turn the sanctuary into a
mere annex of the warehouse ; openly declare that you have elected to
be damned for gold. "We shall then know what to make of you. We
shall distinguish your evil presence from afar, and shall flee from"your
approach as from a noisome pestilence.

Erom this word of warning I gladly turn to a word of earnest welcome
to the Cross of our blessed and only Saviour. " Ye shall be redeemed
without money." " Ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as
silver and gold, but with the precious blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, as
of a lamb without spot and without blemish." Here is a region where
money is not known — he that hath no money come ! The rich and the
poor alike bring nothing to the Cross. We have to bring our sinful
hearts, our wasted lives, and to throw ourselves upon the mercy of God
in Christ Jesus. No bribe must be in the hand, no reference must be
made to possibilities of future merit; nothing is wanted but a full
surrender to the humbling and saving power of the Cross. The rich
man must throw off the glittering encasement of his riches, and come
with empty heart and hand to the Saviour. The poor man must make
no merit of his poverty, but come simply as a sinner, in whom there is
no power of self-redemption, and ask Jesus Christ to receive him as a
ruined and helpless offender. See the exceeding grace of God in this !
All men stand upon one level — circumstances are cleared off, that human
nature may be seen in its true spiritual condition, and all the arbitrary
distinctions of the world are lost in the one appellation of sinners. I
know it must be hard for some of you rich men to believe that you can-
not do anything towards your own salvation. You revel in riches ; your
wealth has placed you within a circle where your word is law. Men
consult your tastes, and bow to your wishes ; but, as sinners before God,
you are as helpless as the beggar that groans at your gate ; and this, of

68 THE CITY TEMPLE.

course, is very liu:ubling to you, it is difficult to understand, and it is
hard to believe ; yet, I tell you, in this house of prayer, that this is the
unchangeable truth of God !

Can I release you without saying that your property involves steward-
ship 1 What have you that you have not received 1 Remember that
the Lord your God giveth yovi power to get wealth, and that though the
image and superscription are Csesar's, the gold itself is God's. Make
your wealth a blessing to others ; gladden the poor by your noble
bounty ; extend the education, the enlightenment, and the freedom of
the world ; sweeten your daily bread by dealing out a portion to the
hungry ; let the blind man know that your eyes are at his service ; let
the oppressed man know that your arm is his — do these things, and ye
shallhave enduring riches. Do thus, and your inheritance shall never
waste.

Men and brethren, rich and poor, stand up and sing —

"Praise God fi-oni whom all blessings flow,
Praise Him all creatures here below ;
Praise Him above, ye heavenly host,
Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost."

Cljt ^rajTi^t

Almighty God, grant us release from the pressure of tlie world by giving
US true ideas of the worth of life and the wonderfulness of our destiny,
as men bearing the image and likeness of God. We own that we have
digged for foundations in the dust, and that we have pursued the gains
of this world as if they could enrich us for ever ; we have bowed down
to the god of this world; we have sought to heal our sorrows and
strengthen our souls by such rewards as he could give us. Hear us, now
that we acknowledge our blindness and our sin, and cry humbly unto
Thee for mercy. Truly, Thou hast shown us that riches are vanity, and
that worldly pleasures are a snare to the soul. "We were filled with
sorrow when Thou didst show us that the world was a lie, and that its
rewai'ds were useless ; yet, since Thou hast shown ns the true riches,
Thou hast blessed our hearts with an imperishable hope, and delivered us
from all feeling of want. Thou hast caused us to know that the gain of
understanding is better than the merchandise of silver, and that all the
things that we can name are not to be compared unto wisdom. Thou
didst find it difficult thus to teach our hearts ; we were selfish and stub-
born, and our eyes were fastened with lingering desire upon the fasci-
nations of the present world ; we imagined that man could live by bread
alone, and that in fine gold he could find constant defence; yet, blessed
be Thy name, Thou hast delivered us from the power of this temptation,
and given us understanding of the true riches. We give Thee thanks
on behalf of every man who can say from the heart — " The Lord is my
shepherd, I shall not want ; " Thou hast delivered such from the fear of
poverty, and established their hearts in immoveable confidence. In the
blessed moment in which Thou didst give us assurance of Thy Father-
hood, Thou didst endow us with an inheritance incorruptible, undefiled,
and that fadeth not away. So, as long as we are Thy children, Thou
dost permit us to command Thy resources ; all things are ours, and even
poverty itself comes to us in friendly guise when we live on the bread
that cometh down from heaven. We think with overflowing joy of Him

70 THE CITY TEMPLE.

who was rich, and wlio for our sakes became poor, that we, through
His poverty, might become rich, and in His necessities we forget our own
trifling wants. Look Thou graciously upon Thy servants now before
Thee, who are about to return to the toils and cares of daily life ; help
them to touch pitch without being defiled ; in stooping to do the work
of the world that now is, may their hearts be lifted up in the strength
and usefulness of Divine sonship ; bless them in basket and in store ;
lead them to living fountains of water ; and even now do Thou give
them the most comforting anticipations of heavenly rest. Father, Son,
and Holy Ghost, dwell with us and save us from the power of darkness.
Amen.

Citn Ci:mpk |Iotc$*

Standing iu the very midst of the city of London as a Christian preacher, it has
occurred to me, that some further use of a great opportunity of looking at men
and things may be made, than has hitherto been attempted iu the City Temple.
We have in this weekly Record a Temple alktr and a Temple pulpit, why not
have a Temple balance, by which to test the value of many pretensions ? To
handle such a balance correctly, as in the sight and fear of God, will require a
combination of righteousness and charity which it is almost impossible to realize.
It would be easy to speak the stern word of the law, yet the law itself fails when
it ceases to speak under the inspiration of mercy ; it would be easy to speak the
flattering word of conventional courtesy, yet politeness is sin, if it have not a back-
ground of incorruptible righteousness. To combine these, to be true yet gentle, to
be angry without sin, to satirise without sneering, to commend without hypocrisy,
is not easy ; yet, may not Divine grace overcome human infirmity ? I shall
endeavour to speak fearlessly, sometimes to answer a fool according to his folly,
and sometimes to show what a fool he is, by not answering him at ail, — specially,
shall I be anxious to get a hearing for misunderstood men, to give interjiretation
and emphasis to all who have a right word to say but are slow of speech, and to
call into effect powers that are now chilled and discouraged by unfriendly circum-
stances. This proposed addition to the City Temple shall be developed as events
may suggest. No pledge of uniformity is given, — the balance itself shall be
always ready.

An alarming state of affairs is reported by the Paris correspondent of a London
newspaper. Dating his letter on Thursday evening, the 14th inst., he writes thus : —
' ' Natui'ally, the air is clouded with parsons— I really believe them to be the
tourists of the age ; prim pilgrims of j^leasure, they people Europe, imjjrove the
occasion by preaching in small cities to relieve the E.ev. Roulette Rowdy, M.A.,
and go home with opened minds to their mild but pleasant tea-parties, for which
they are usually very nice young men. I encountered nine yesterday, exclusive of
the Rev. White Choker, who lives here, between the Arch of Trium])h and the
Grand Caravanserai." Here, alas ! is a vivid illustration of the mutability of human
circumstances. Look at the frightfully rapid variations of the hfe of those " j)rim
pilgrims of pleasure," — they " cloud the air," they "people Europe," they "preach
in small cities," they are boldly encountered in batches of nine by a newspaper
correspondent, and they finally settle down to "their mild but pleasant tea-
parties." That the air was "clouded" when " our own correspondent" indulged
in this sneer cannot be justly doubted, and that the style of composition which he
has adopted is admirably suited to a "mild" tea-j)arty will at once be admitted ;
we concede these points most unreservedly, yet candour obliges us to add that no
"pleasant" tea-party could survive such an infliction of feeble genius. ISTor is the
feebleness of genius altogether without explanation : when a solitary man has
"encountered" nine "prim pilgrims of pleasure," it ought not to be matter of
surprise that his own pleasure should have been considerably impaired, especially
if these "prim pilgrims" who "cloud the air" had so far forgotten themselves
as to descend to the atmospheric stratum in which the head of " our own

72 THE CITY TEMPLE.

correspondent " may be supposed to move. It was heroic on the part of "our
own correspondent" openly to sneer at "prim pilgrims" who, according to his
own showing, are numerous enough to "cloud the air" and "people Europe ;" it
was courteous of him to write of strangers as he has done ; it was the height of
magnanimity to try to bring into contempt a body of men so obviously wanting in
good ta^te as to give him an opportunity of ' ' encountering " them. We should
not have noticed the anonymous and clumsy assault of " our own correspondent,"
even to repel the notion that "parsons" are so contemptible a class as he would
make them out to be, but we do wish to point out that there is nothing in the
Christian religion opposed to the highest strength of manhood, spiritual and
intellectual ; if its teachers deserve such remarks as we have quoted, they have
themselves to blame. The doctrines which Jesus Christ has authorized them to
teach are more than worthy of the most transcendent genius and the most heroic
courage. Some men try to stab the Master through the servant. " He that
despiseth you despiseth me, and he that despiseth me despiseth him that sent

There are several ways in which young men may help me in the various depart-
ments of my ministry, the principal of which is by writing at my dictation. If
three or four young men who can write shorthand will give me one evening in the
week, they will enable me to keep fully abreast with all the claims that are made
upon me. The work when so divided will not be heavy for them, yet their service
will relieve me from a very serious burden. All who are willing to help in this
way are invited to offer their aid at once.

As an arrangement for self -protection, I am driven to announce the following as
my charges for general public service ; in all cases travelling expenses must, of
course, be paid : —
Preaching on behalf of the salaries of poor ^ -la fi-

ministers )

Preaching for ministers whose salaries are \ ;v" /^ '

less than £100 a year |

Preaching at the opening of chapels Six Volumes of Standard Literature.

Attending Tea- meetings Fifty pounds.

Going to Bazaars A hundred guineas.

Serving on Committees Two thousand pounds.

Several uninformed friends have written to me, asking for lectures. Once for
all, let it be understood by all readers of the City Temple, that I do not deliver
lectures ; I do not believe in lectures, as that term is generally understood ; this
one thing I do— I preach the Gospel of the Son of God. That is more than enough
for all my strength. Gladly would I preach every day, and all day long, so
inspiring is the theme ! We are receiving abundant evidence that the Gospel is
still the power of God unto salvation, and so long as we enjoy such triumphs, we
shall not descend to compete for lower victories.

Report op a Service conducted by

JOSEPH PAEKEE,

In the Poultry Chapel, on Thursday Morning, October 21st, 1869.

®Ij£ f ragn-.

Almighty God, Thou knowest us by name, and canst come to us
according to our special wants. Tliou liast treated us as if we alone
were Tliy children, as if Thou hadst not a whole universe beyond us to
care for and bless ; as the sun doth bathe the earth in light, as if it were
the only world over which Thou didst set it, so Thou hast filled us with
hope and glory, as if we wex'e Thine only begotten sons. We come to Thee
with overflowing hearts ; our mouth is oi^ened in renewed praise ; we
have made haste to appear in this Thy house ; Thou hast given us so
much ; Thou hast held back nothing from us ; Thou hast made us rich
with Thine own self. We have left the pui'suits of the world for an
hour, and we thank Thee that we have hope of rest in Thee whilst we
abide here. Wilt Thou not hasten to help us 1 Wilt Thou not give us
a reviving 1 Why should we thus question Thee when Thou hast already
answered us — Lo, God is here, and this is a holy place. Let us now see
the littleness of earth, and let us feel the infinite preciousness of heaven.
Help us to be truthful, noble, coui-ageous, and every way like Jesus
Christ ; may we do our worldly business in an unworldly spirit ; may
we perform all our pilgrimage in haste. This morning give us the bread
which, being eaten in secret, shall be pleasant ; and the waters which,
being stolen from the time of the world, shall be sweet. In this hour
we shall live long — these are the moments which deepen our vitality.
Though we are in the midst of the week, yet do we anticipate the
Sabbath ; we hear its voices of music, we feel its hallowing and quieting
spell. Lord, make our whole life as a Sabbath. Give us rest even
in the midst of labour, and Divine elevation even amidst the distrac-

7

THE CITY TEMPLE.

tions of an uncertain and unsatisfactory world. God be merciful to us
sinners. We cannot cease this prayer whilst we are conscious of the
presence of our sins in our life ; yet do we utter it in assured confidence
that it is Tliy delight to forgive. We think of the Cross, and remember
that Jesus Christ came to take away sins ; we think of the Resurrec
tion, and enter into the spirit and rest of our Redeemer's triumph. We
shall be delivered from all evil ; Thou wilt clothe us as with white linen,
and there shall be no stain of sin upon us for ever. Now, Lord, open
Thy truth and open our hearts, and let us listen as those who expect
great revelations from heaven. Amen.

o
ON JESUS CHRIST AND ZACCH.-EUS.

Let me ask you to accompany me in reading part of the 19th chapter of
the Gospel by Lulce, beginning with the first verse : —

" And Jesus entered and passed throiigli Jericlio. And, beliold, there was a
man named Zacchanis, which was the chief among the publicans, and he was rich.
And he sought to see Jesus who he was ; and could not for the press, because he
was little of stature. And he ran before, and climbed up into a sycamore tree to
see him : for he was to pass that way. And when Jesus came to the place, he
looked up, and saw him, and said unto him, Zacchseus, make haste, and come
down ; for to-day I must "abide at thy house. And he made haste, and came down,
and received him joyfully. And when they saw it, they all murmured, saying. That
he was gone to be guest with a man that is a sinner. And Zaccha^us stood, and
said unto the Lord ; Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor ; and if
I have taken any thiug from any man by false accusation, I restore him fourfold.
And Jesus said unto him. This day is salvation come to this house, forsomuch as
he also is a son of Abraham. For the Son of man is come to seek and to save
that which was lost." — Ll^ke xix. 1 — 10.

You may build God out of cities, or you may throw open the city gates
and bid Him welcome with all reverence and thankfulness. You cannot
build Him out with common masonry. He can crumble our rocky walls
to pieces, and drive the ploughshare through the foundations of our

o.v jr;sL'S ciiaisr a\d zacch^us. 75

fortresses ; He c;in toucli the mountains, and they will go up before
Him as the smoke of incense ; wherever mere power is required, God
can break us down by a stroke. How then, you will say, is it possible
to build God out of the city? I answer, by corrupt institutions, by
depraA'ed laws, by tricks of trade, by knavery and fraud, by selfish dis-
positions and op2)ressive usages, by forgery, by unjust balances, by
defective measures, by practical lying, by false-heartedness, it is possible
to build God out of a city more thoroughly than He could be excluded
by the most elaborate masonry. Ancient Jericho attempted to enclose
herself within solid walls, but men appointed by God threw down all
her boasted defences. Can anything resist the thunder of the march
Avhich is commanded by God 1 When men walk according to the Divine
order, when they step in harmony with the rhythm of the Divine move-
ment, they overturn the rocks, and cast the mountains into the sea.
Tet, alas ! there is a region in which Omnipotence itself is weakness :
even a child can shut the door of its heart against God, and Almighti-
ness may be defied by an evil will ! Jericho was favoured of God
in exceeding measure — bountifully supplied with water, having a
tropical climate, her palm trees equalling the palms of Egypt, rich with
fruits, spices, and 2)erfumes, growing in abundance the sweet-smelling
camphire and the balm of Gilead ; yet, while the beasts of the field, the
dragons and the owls (Isaiah iv. 20) honoured the Most High, she
departed from her Maker, and praised not the goodness of her Lord.
She trusted in her walls, and confided in the strength of her arm, until
God smote her by the breath of His mouth ! Gladly do we come to the
words before us, as marking a new era in the annals of Jericho.
I pause to say that Jesus is passing through our own city ; and that
to-day, busy as we are with the claims of daily life, we may see His
beauty and learn His Avill.

"And, behold, there was a man named Zacchteus, which was the chief among
the publicans, and he was rich."

A whole paragraph devoted to the delineation of one man's life, whilst
so many great subjects are hardly touched upon in the Christian
Scriptures. Yet let us not complain of what looks to us like the
capriciousness and incompleteness of Divine revelation, for in these
})ortrayals of individuals, we have not only the most practical aspects of
the Christian faith, but we get nearer to God than would otherwise have
been possible. When we see Jesus Christ face to face with an individual
sinner, we see the whole scheme of redemption as it were in miniature ;
and we have the advantage of concentration ; our minds are not distracted

76 THE CITY TEMPLE.

by the bewilderment which is occasioned by a vast scale of operation ;
everything is brought to a point ; and to vis is given the .benefit of the
conciseness of individuality. Does not one man require in his own
experience the whole scheme of Divine redemption 1 Is it not with this
as with the light, the atmosphere, and the whole mechanism of the
world ? Were there but one man upon the globe, he would as much
require the sun, the summer, the harvest, as do the millions who now
exist upon it. We shall see God's love perhaps more vividly displayed,
because more intensely concentrated, in the case of one man than when
applied to the necessities of the whole world. Each man should have a
paragraph of Christian history specially his own. Is your life to
be found in Christian history 1 Can you point to any record of a
personal interview with the Saviour"? Blessed are you whose lives are
part of a great unwritten Bible, which is continually before God.

" And he soxiglit to see Jesus who he was ; aud could not for the press, because
he was little of stature."

Let me take out of this verse three woi'ds which set forth the highest
object of human life ; these three words are — " To see Jesus " ! Zaccheeus
sought to see Him through natural curiosity, yet such curiosity may be
turned to the highest uses ; Zacchagus sought only to see the Man, but
in the end he saw the Saviour ; he desired to see a wonder, and in the
€nd he was made into a wonder himself. So it is evermore, — a man is
made either infinitely better or infinitely worse hj coming into contact
with Jesus Christ ; the Gospel kills or makes ali^'e. This man found
a difficulty in attempting to realize his wish. Is it not so with some
of us who are listening to this story to-day ? Zacchteus was little ;
every man is little somewhere. The signature of defect is upon every
chai-acter ; we cannot write a complete biography of any man without
having to use this word little, in one relation or another. Men are
truly little when the}' are little in spiritual fox'ce, in moral sympathy and
tender-heartedness, in appreciation of objects that are noble, progressive,
sublime. Any other littleness is but a trivial defect ; this is a moi'tal
blemish. Hear how the descriptive words go in the case of Zacchseus —
chie/, rich, little ! It is possible for a man to read his life in this fashion,
and to complain that it has been set on a descending scale ; but it is
also possible to reverse the order of these epithets, and so to get a more
inspiring view of life. He will then say, not chief, rich, little, but little,
rich, chief ! Take care how you read your life ! Some lives may be
I'ead thus — little, less, nothing ! If we look at those who are higher
than ourselves, we may become censorious critics of the Divine way ;

ON JESUS CHRIST AND ZACCH.EUS. 77

but if we malce ourselves familiar with tliose who are in the lowest
positions of life, suffering pain, hunger, loneliness, we shall abound in
grateful 2:)raises to the Giver of all good. Did Zacchfeus give up his
object because of the difficulty of the situation 1 Let us read : —

" And he ran before, and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see him : for he was
to pass that way."

He never would have been chief among the i^ublicans and rich if he had
succumbed to difficulties. His character was brought ou.t by opposition.
1 contend, that whatever a man's disadvantages may be, he can see
Jesus Christ if he so determine in his heart. There are men, now-a-
days, who profess that they have endeavoured to see Jesus Christ, but
have been kept back by the press of sects, sceptics, speculators, critics,
comQieutators, and controversialists ; but, in tlie face of an incident like
this, the triviality of such pretence is made evident, I allow that there
is a great press of the sort described ; no doubt it is, more or less, a
difficulty to urge one's way through the throng surrounding Jesus
Christ, yet there is a sycamore tree up which we may climb if we are
truly in earnest. Zacchjeus was little, but he could run ; Zacchseus
was short of stature, but he could climb. How very shocking — how
manifestly improper of one who was chief among the publicans and rich,
to be seen running along the road and climbing up a tree ! Such
enthusiasm in pui'suit of his object is in keeping with the whole
character of the man. Are you willing, if need be, to go out of the
so-called regular way to see the Savioin-, or are you sacrificing your
destiny to the tyrannous claims of conventionality '] Hear me ! I
exhort you to climb up any tree, to enter any church, from which you
can most clearly see the face of the Redeemer-. Break up your old asso-
ciations, cast off your creeds and \isages, and incur the censure of esta-
blished proprieties, rather than not see the Friend of sinners. Incidents
like this make me impatient of all the excuses which are urged in expla-
nation of not accepting the salvation of Jesus Christ. Can we not do
as Zacchajus did 1 What is the value of our earnestness, if it do not
enable us to overcome difficulties 1 No excuse should detain us, except
such as we can tell Jesus Christ himself. Remember that it is written,
" Strait is the gate and narrow is the way." The Saviour himself
acknowledges the difficulty, yet He never says it is insurmountable, and
never promises that it shall protect men from the consequences of
unbelief. Oh, ye men Avho are exhausting yourselves in the pursuit of
riches; ye who rise early and retire late, that you may increase your worldly
substance ; you that are prepared to make any sacrifice of strength and

78 THE CITY TEMPLE.

time, that you may compete successfully in the strife of scholaivship ; you
that are prepared to encounter every form of suffering and danger, that
you may extend your knowledge of the Avorld and your influence among
men as legislators and economists, say not in this sanctuary that you
have been driven back from seeking Jesus Christ by some petty incon-
venience or contemptible barrier ! Sobriety is undoubtedly the snare of
some men ; they mxist needs take their first considerations from what is
called prudence, or whilst they are deliberating whether it be proper to
adopt some extraordinary method of attaining their object, the Saviour
passes by without being seen. Better run the risk which comes of the
intoxication of Ipnthusiasm, than be rendered ])owerless by a benumbing
conventionality. Zacchseus would never have been the man that he was,
had he been incapable of enthusiasm ; he would have succumbed to
propriety, where he overcame by a noble passion.

"And when Jesus came to tlie place, he looked up, and saw him, and said vmto
him, Zacchseus, make haste, and come down ; for to-day I must abide at thy
house."

Observe the development which is traced in this verse. Jesiis Christ
looked, saw, and said. It is possible to look without seeing ; many men
can look upon the throngs of the world without emotion ; human
history has to them no deep significance ; in their eyes men are but
customers, clients, patrons ; the idea of immortality never mingles with
their coarse thinking. On the other hand, it is possible both to look and
to see ; to the highest type of mind, the sight of a crowd brings sadness
of heart; every man is seen to be a mystery — to be the bearer of untold
sorrow — to be the distracted subject of many ambitions — to be weak
through sin, and to be bearing the black seal of death; to such types of
mind life becomes one long sigh, by reason of the wickedness which
enfeebles and dehumanizes the race. It is possible, however, both to
look and to see, yet not to sai/. There is a want of moral courage, even
where there is a deep appreciation of the necessities of the case. Many
men will tell you, that when they have been brought into contact with
men of extreme depravity, they have just been on the point of preaching
the Gospel, yet they have foreborne to speak the Word of life. When
Christians look, and see, and SAY, there will go forth into the world
such an evangelizing commission as never yet sought the recovery of
men. Have you ever spoken to one human creature about his personal
salvation 1 You tell me you have looked upon your friend, and that you
have seen the deepest want of his life, yet you have not delivered the
message of God to his soul. Believe me, this is not friendship, and that
there is a day coming, on which you will feel that in neglecting these

ON JESUS CHRIST AND ZACCH^US, 79

opportunities — you have risked your own salvation. Is it not noticeable,
that Jesus Christ addressed Zacchajus by name 1 To the reverent mind,
this circumstance justly suggests the Omniscience of the Son of God. Did
not the Lord say unto Moses, "I know thee by name'"? We, too, are
known in our individuality. If we have set ourselves in any positioQ,
ordinary or peculiar, for the purpose of seeing the Saviour, the All-seeing
Eye is upon us, and our personal name is associated with the act. How did
Zacchseus receive the word that was addressed to him 1 Did he hesitate 1
Did he excuse himself on the ground that he had been seeking to gratify
merely a natural curiosity 1 Many persons take up positions of obser-
vation in the sanctuaiy, and when they are personally invited to active
service on behalf of Jesus Christ, or closer communion with the Church,
they instantly plead a merely general interest, and excuse themselves
from conseriting to the appeal on most trivial grounds. They turn the
sanctuary into a convenience ; they make use of the vantage-ground
without any pledge of loyalty to the claims of Christ, and treat with
coldness the invitations which might call their souls into a most fruitful
and glorious development. How did Zacchajus act 'i Let us read :

"And lie made haste, and came down, and received him joyfully."

This is in striking harmony with all that we have seen of Zacchfeus.
The man who could run and climb was just the man to make haste in
coming down, and to give a joyful answer to such an appeal. Men
would be better if we spoke to them more kindly. Take high gi-ound
with a man, and you instantly put him on his own defence ; speak to
him in a conciliating tone, and you may gain audience of his very heart.
Be sure, as Christian teachers, there is something in every man to which
you can address yourselves with good effect. We may clearly infer from
this text, that the unlikeliest men may yield the most blessed results of
our ministry. Here is a man, chief among the publicans and rich,
despised and avoided by a large portion of society, who returns a joyful
answer to the appeal of Christ. Has it not been so in our own
experience 1 Some of the men on whose adhesion we had reckoned most
confidently have fallen back into coldness and unbelief; and some whom
we had regarded as hopeless, have responded to our ministry with most
imexpected and startling joy. We must be more cordial with neglected
men. I do not hesitate to say that in all congregations there are men
little counted of, or even hardly known, lying under the ban of
suspicion, or misunderstood by reason of some social disfavour, who only
need to be personally addressed in the language of Christian love, to

THE CITY TEMPLE.

yield themselves with overflowing joy to the gentle deinn.nd.s of the
Saviour,

' ' And when they saw it, they all murmured, saying, That he was gone to be
"uest with a man that is a sinner."

What a life of criticism Jesus Christ endured ! Always reproached,
always suspected, often despised, truly, had He been less than God, He
Avould have abandoned His ministry in disgust and retiirned to the world
whence He proceeded. The whole of the religion of His day was hostile
to His spirit and method, and no man entered into sympathy with His
world-embi'acing schemes ; His brethi-en distrusted Him, and His friends
fell away from HLs standard, and He was left to work in loneliness that
would have been terrible, but for the Divinity that was in Him. Even
the most despised worker amongst us can have but a faint notion of
what it is to live i;nder a fire of continual reproach ; to have all one's
motives misunderstood, to see our whole purpose resented with con-
tempt, to have one's name made synonymous with that of the devil.
Think of what was the condition imder which Jesus Chi-ist worked, and
let us learn from it patiently to endvire the contradiction of sinners.

The relation of Jesus Christ to sinners enforces a lesson which the
Church has yet to learn. I shall not severely criticise the Church in
the exercise of moral discipline, but I shall ask most earnestly, whether
the discipline of exclusion should not be followed by the discipline of
recovery 1 It is perfectly right to depose from the honour and privilege
of Church standing those who liaA'e brought the Church's name into
disrepute. Justice to those who have maintained a consistent profes-
sion demands this, not to speak of the higher consideration in which
Jesus Christ himself is involved ; yet, when such deposition has been
effected, there should be a most kindly concern on behalf of the Church
to recover the excluded. I hold that discipline is not exhausted by the
mere act of excision ; I question, indeed, whether this is not the lowest
aspect of discipline. It is easy to thrust out the offender, but not so
easy to go after him and to say, that having fulfilled the law of penalty,
we have come to attempt the law of restoration. I am afraid we have
not been filled with God's love towards backsliders ; we have not
pursued them with our prayers ; we have not stood around them in
masses to put before their feet every possible impediment in the road to
hell. WJiich of us would dare to go into the house of a publicly known
sinner, such as Zacchseus was thought to be, for the purpose of drawing
him towards deeper life 1 Our own virtue has often been so feeble, that
only by associating with the best men could we escape the reputation

ON JESUS CHRIST AND ZACJH^US. 81

of being vicious. Only where there is superabountling spii'itual life can
there be a graceful descent into the haunts of evil which defies the
tongue of scandal, and iguores the muruiuring of outraged respectability.
This verse shows very strikingly that the path of duty often lies across
the prejudices of society. It is not an easy thing for one man, poor and
friendless, to set himself against the current of public opinion. A word
of caution i.-(, however, necessary here, for there are self-opinionated men
enough, who boast of their singularity, and imagine themselves to be
.somebody, because they are foolhardy enough to throw out a challenge
to the whole world. Singularity, considered strictly in itself, is no
virtue. When it is the expression of self-confidence, it is neither more
nor less than detestable affectation ; when it is the expression of intel-
ligent and anxious conviction, animated by a profound humility, and
dictated by a self-sacrificing desire to do good, it is noble and praise-
worthy. Men should not aim at singularity ; but, being forced into ifc
by their loyal constancy to Jesus Christ, they should not fear its con-
sequences. Some consciences seem to describe an eccentric orbit, and
in doing so, become whimsical and fantastical in what, from want of a
better word, may be called their moral phases. Out of this eccentricity
there comes a narrow and censorious criticism, which gives just offence
to the most honourable and generous minds. Jesus Christ was never
singular merely for the sake of singulai-ity. It was the divinity of His
virtue which compelled the loneliness of His life — more earthliness would
have meant more popularity.

"And Zacchseus stood, ar.d said uuto the Lord, Behold, Lord, the half of my
goods I give to the poor ; and if I have taken anything from any man by false
accusation, I restore him fourfold."

You have seen flowers which have been closed during the night,
opening to the morning sun ; so is it with human hearts shut up in the
cold dark night of selfishness, when the sun of righteousness arises upon
them witli healing in his wings. Zacchseus would never have known
himself if he had not first known Jesus Christ. It is ever noteworthy
that by contact with the Saviour men become greater, and to their fuller
strength is added all the charm of generosity. In this case there is
n noticeable combination of liberality and j ustice ; the poor and the
wronged alike feel the blessed influence of this man's renewal ; all with
whom He had to do were to be the better for his having received Jesus
Christ into his heart. This kind of evidence ought to form the most
powerful vindication of Christianity. Renewed men explain God's
revelations to the soul. Instead of saying. Examine this or that doctrine,

82 • THE CITY TEMl'LE.

we ought to be able to point to tlie poor mau who is being comforted,
and to the wronged man who is being compensated, and to say, These
are the claims which we set np in exposition and defence of Christian
truth. Let me beseech, you to think of Jesus Christ, not only as the
Saviour, but as the Hevecder of men. See how all generous resohitions,
all Divine aspirations, and all unselfish impulses result from contact witli
Him. In the presence of siich evidences of new life, I am constrained
to say that no man need hesitate to decide whether or not he is really
under the influence of the Son of God. He has only to put to himself
such questions as these : Am I doing my utmost to repair the wrongs of
the past 1 Do I measure everything by a Divine standard 1 Do I make
myself the centre of the circle in which I move, or do I refer everything
to Jesus Christ as the one Lawgiver and Judge 1 Am I the friend of
the poor ] Is my presence as a light of hope in the dark places of
oppression and misery 1 These are the questions that determine the
quality of our manhood. We have heard of professing Christians who
were nari'ow in their creed, selfish in their policy, grovelling in their
dispositions, and illiberal in their judgments ; we have no hesitation in
chaz-ging upon them the high crime of dishonouring the Name that is
above every name. It is the glory of Christianity that it ennobles
human life. Do you know of any man who has been made less true^
less generous, less compassionate, less forbearing, since he identified
himself with the Cross? My bold and lofty challenge on behalf of
Jesus Christ is this, that He meets man dwarfed and crippled by sin^
and glorifies him with the dignity, and eniiches him with the blessedness
of eternal life. Let men receive the Spirit of the Saviour, and eveiy
transaction of their lives will be simplified, elevated and made pure,
their business will be regenerated, their houses will become sanctuaries,
and their whole character a living persuasive defence of all that is wise,
and true, and good. "We do not for one moment deny the heightening
and refining efiect of intellectual education ; but we have seen evidence
enough in the history of the world under all conditions of civilization, to
justify the opinion that man's best estate, apart from Jesus Christ, is but
as the ai-tificial plant to the living and fruitful garden.

' ' And Jesus said unto him, This day is salvation come to this house, f orsomuch
as he also is a son of Abraham."

Have you had such a visitation in your house 1 Truly, there are
special days in our life which seem to thi-ow all other days into insigni-
ficance. Chiefest and brightest of them is the day on which salvation
becomes the culminating fact of our history. I am afraid that this word

ox JESUS CHRIST AXD ZACCH.EUS. S3

salvation is becoming somewliat unfamiliar; nor am I sure that it is
always used in its fullest meaning, even by those who are not ashamed
of the Gospel of Christ. It is possible to think of salvation as a distant
blessing, but Jesus Christ speaks of it as a pi-esent reality. He gives
eternal life to men 7ioio, and we fall short of the happiest realization of
our privileges, if we allow the heart to dwell upon anything less than
the immortality which has been given to us by the Son of God. It may
not always be possible to point out the exact day on which salvation
came to our houses ; I do not pi-ess for the identification of mere dates,
but I do contend that it is impossible for Jesus Christ to have been
received into any house as Kedeemer and King, without His entry
having made such an impression as can never be effaced from the
memory or dislodged from the liberated and rejoicing heart. It ought
not to be a merely sentimental exercise to recall the hour in which we
received the blessings of salvation. Men are poor when they give up
the great memories of the soul. It is one of the most blessed enjoy-
ments of the Christian life to fall back upon hallowed recollections, and
to summon them to our aid in anticipating a future on which there may
rest somewhat of the shadow of doubt or fear. Men can say, this day I
was ruined in trade ; this day I undertook a most important commercial
engagement ; this day I fell under the power of a terrible disease ; this
day I came into possession of great riches — blessed are they amongst
whose recollections is the transcendent day on which Jesus Christ set up
His kingdom in their hearts.

Whilst dwelling upon this verse, it is important to observe the view
which Jesus Christ takes of Zacchreus. The multitude had called him
" a man who is a sinner ;" Jesus Christ openly declared him to be " a son
of Abraham." Little natures delight to take lowering views of human
life ; it is the delight of great souls to give high interpretation and
sublime significance to the capacity and destiny of men. See the
mercifulness of the Saviour's judgments ! If there is one spark of light
in us, He increases it to a great flame ; if He can possibly classify with
the children of Abraham, He will never identify us with the sons of
perdition. It is better to fall into the hands of God than into the
hands of men.

After this came the last grand word, worthy of being written in
letters of fine gold —

"For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that whicli is lost."

Had men not been lost, He never would have come as a man. In what
form we might have seen Him it is impossible to say. To our sin we

84 JHE CITY TEMPLE.

owe His incarnation ; what if sin shall jii'ove to have brought us views of
God which could never have been seen in the light of unfallen virtue i As
we see most truly what is in man when Jesus Christ reveals him, may it
not also be true, that we see most deeply into the heart of God when He
is moved to the condemnation of sin and the redemption of the sinner 1
lb is premature to say what part sin will play in the economy of the
universe ; we know little about it now ; at best, it is but morning
twilight ; yet, if through the sin we have even now seen so much, of
the mercy, there may I'emain still brighter and more inspiring revela-
tions, and hell itself may be made to contribute towards a fuller imder-
standing of the infinite love and glory of God. Turning nwiiy from the
mystery, let us all take heart in presence of an incident so graphic and
touching as this ; let no sinner despair ; let none who would see Jesus
give up the noble purpose. He receiveth sinners still ; He braves the
reproaches of the narrow-minded still ; He is mighty to save — He is
unwilling to destroy.

Q"

Ije Oiitji Cemplc.

Report of a Service conducted by

JOSEPH PAEKEE,

Ix THE Poultry Chapel, on Thursday Morning, November 4th, 1869.

Blessed Saviour we have desired this quiet hour, as wearj' men.
sigh for rest. We promised our souls that they should be tranquil in.
their Father's house ; come, then, with all Thy great peace, and give-
us to feel the calmness of Thine own natui-e. We bless Thee for the
sanctuary in Which we learn what we are, and what by Thy grace we
may become. We thank Thee for a place of repentance, where we
can shed the tears of a true contrition and cry, " God be merciful unto
us sinners," with an assurance that Thou wilt hear and answer. Make
this hour precious unto us. May it be unto us as many hours, by
reason of the abounding spiritual enjoyment which we shall now realize.
May the cup of our heart overflow ; may our eyes behold the King in
His beauty ; may our whole nature respond to all the gracious influences
of Thy kingdom. Say to the storm of our heart, " Be still." Speak
Thou to the vision of our mind, and our eyes shall look iipon Thee r
open Thou a highway to our soul, and come Thou, whose right it is to
reign upon the throne. The Lord's blessing be multiplied upon us ; the
Lord's joy be our gladness and our song; and unto the Father, and the
Son, and the Holy Ghost, three Persons in one God, shall be the king-
dom, and power, and the gloiy, evermore. Amen.

8

ON HEALING THE WITHERED HAND.

Let me ask you to accompany me in reading part of tlie third
chapter of the Gospel by Mark, beginning at the first verse : —

"And he entered again into the synagogue ; and there was a man there which
had a withered hand. And they watched him, -whether he would heal him on the
sabbath day ; that they might accuse him. And he saith unto the man which had
the withered hand, Stand forth. And he saith unto them, Is it lawful to do good
on the sabbath days, or to do evil ? to save life, or to kill ? But they held their
peace. And when he had looked round about on them with anger, being grieved
for the hardness of their hearts, he saith unto the man, Stretch forth thine hand.
And he stretched it out : and his hand was restored Avhole as the other." — St.
Mark, iii. 1—5.

Jesns Christ instantly detected everything that was wrong in the
society into which He entered. The moment He w^ent into the syna-
gogue, He felt that there was a man there with a withered hand. All
the Scribes and Pharisees might have gone into the synagogue, and that
withered hand would not have troubled, would not have reported itself
to them, because they had not sufficient wholeness of manhood and
perfectness of purity to feel the pain and the distress which come of the
presence of that which is defective or blemished. The artist shall go
into a building and be troubled by it exceedingly ; a thousand laymen
shall be there, and be quite comfortable. The ai'tist's eye instantly
detects the false proportion, the line that is out of course, and his eve
will turn to it ; he may put very severe repressive restraints upon
himself; he may make many a vow to be blind to the defect ; but the

ON HEALING THE WITHERED HAND. S7

trouble will come again and again upon him, because on that side of his
life he is highly cultured, so much so as to be almost perfect. And by so
much as any man is himself perfect, does he instantly detect what is
defective and imperfect in other people. You and I might be able to
hear a psalm-tune and enjoy it, but a highly-trained musician, in going
into the sanctuary, might be sent nearly crazy by it, because he is no
highly trained in that department of his nature, that a wrong note, a
wrong tone, a halt misplaced, a quaver wrongly directed, will instantly
touch his soul — the soid which is not merely musical, but music itself.
And we who were enjoying the psalmody very much cannot understand
the sensitive men who are driven half frantic because one note happens
to be a little awry, or not to be delivered with sufficient emphasis and
expressiveness. So it is ; the more a man has life in him the more he
feels the ])resence of death — the more sensitive he is, the more he
shrinks, not only from evil, but from the very appearance of evil, so that
those who are in a lower moral region hardly understand his shrinking
and revulsion. Two persons shall go into the same room ; one of them
shall be perfectly comfortable, and quiet, and easy, though in the room
there are a hundred signs of disorder, not perhaps amounting to positive
chaos, but strongly tending in that direction — there are persons who
have no objection to chaos itself — but the other person instantly, on
going into the room, without being inquisitive, without being prying,
without trying to look, must see all the points of disorder ; and there
will come into the observer* — in proportion as he is orderly — a sense of
distress ; there will be complaint ; there will be vxneasiness j there will
be a feeling almost approaching resentment.

Now, we know something of these things in our own life ; we know
something about the influence which this keen sensitiveness has in our
relations to one another ; in our views of life, in our intercourse
with men generally; but all this finds its culmination, its absolute
eternal perfection in Him in whom there was no spot, no blemish, holy
as His Father was Holy ; perfect with all the essential gl ory of tlie God-
head. So when He came into the synagogue he instantly ye^i that there-
was a man there with a withered hand. It needed not that the man
should be told to stand up to be pointed out. Jesus Christ felt that He
was there ; and this comes of the perfectness of His nature, the whole-
ness of His manhood, the purity and completeness of His life. So you
will always find it. The more life a man has the more sorrow he has.

OO THE CITY TEMPLE.

Increase a man's life, and you increase liis sorrow and distress ; give
him life^ more abundantly, and lie will slied tears where other people
would not understand his weeping. He will sigh and tremble where
other persons cannot at all enter into the mystery of his life. What,
then, if He who had all life, and who, when He gave life gave Eternal
— what if He should have lived His tlu'ee short dying years in a sigh, in
a sorrow which at last broke His heart, and which to-day remains the
mystery, yet the hope of the universe 1

" They watched liim, whether he would heal him on the sabbath day ; that they
inight'^accuse him. And he saith unto the mau which had the withered hand,
Stand forth."

This gives us a view of what I may term the passive difficulties which
lie in the great worker's way. There are difficulties that only seem to
rouse our courage ; and there are difficulties we can make nothing of, —
without shape, and without name, without address, and yet there they
are in the man's way, and they are oftentimes very awkward difficulties
indeed. I find, now that we have got to use long fine names . for
ugly things, that this has come to be the name of the class of difficulty
to which I i*efer, namely, negative opposition. Do you know the
meaning of that ? Persons who represent this kind of difficulty, do not
fight a man ; they do not say, '' We mean to oppose you here, and thei-e,
and yonder, and these are the weapons which we intend to use when we
come to fight ;" but they just sit by and loatch. You cannot kill a man
for watching ; you cannot bring him to church discipline for watching ;
you cannot make him ashamed of himself for watching. He is a
stumbling-block, a difficulty, a great wedge of ice in the Church, and
yet his crime is summed up in watching. The enemies of the Saviour
" watched Him whether He would heal on the Sabbath-day." Always
watched ! How few kind human eyes lighted upon Him, beamed
encouragement upon Him ! There was always a cold cx-iticism in the eyes
that looked upon Him, always something cheerless and discouraging !
If it had not been for the abundance of His love, and the perfectness of
His manhood. He could not have stood so long before such a trial of
malignant watching, passive opposition, and active hostility. Are there
people who are watching any of you in your work, that they may accuse

* ON HEALING THE WITHERED HAND. 89

you, if you should happen to offend some little techuicality 1 Are there
people wlio would oppose you because you are breaking down something
that is ancient and ti-aditional, and who themselves revere something
merely because it has a covering of grey haii's upon it 1 Follow the
Master I not defiantly, not haughtily, not self-sufficiently, but with the
lowliness of dignity and the meekness of conscious power in Christ, and
do your work, and leave them to give an accoimt of their watching. But
were they the only persons who were watching the Saviour 1 Let us
get correct notions about this, if we would lay hold of life with
anything like masterliness and certainty. Under such circumstances,
perhaps, some of us would have seen only the watching critics. But
there are other watchers. The chariots of God are twenty thousand,
His angels are ministering spirits, and all His heaven seems to gather
round good, redeeming men. With these poor, dying eyes, we see
only the human watchers, but we are hemmed in with God, and if we
succumb to the human watchers, who can measure the disappointment
of those other lookers-on who are not seen, and yet who come nearer
than the hosts of the enemy, encircling us with fire, and watching for
us, lest we hesitate in a critical hour ? My friend, thou wilt often
fall before cold, searching, critical eyes, if thou dost only look on the
material side of things ; but know thou that all the world is God's
Synagogue — God's Temj)le ; and if thou art seeking to cure any poor
man who may be in it, God is watching, angels ai'e watching — none can
number the watchers ! Turn the eyes of the heart towards these
better witnesses and defy, not with human spite, but with God's
sufficiency, the watching criticisms of men who would let any poor
wi-etch die rather than break the slightest rule of propriety, or offend
the shallowest ti'aditions of the fathers.

That " Sabbath Day " was an awful temptation to these people.
It does happen so oftentimes, that what is religious becomes ixTeligion
to people who touch it in the wrong spirit. To think of a number
of educated, and, I dare say, very able men in then- way, making
such great blunders in life, and keeping themselves back from such
good works because of the Sablath Day ! What is the lesson
there ? This : it is possible to turn God's gifts into a perverted use,
possible so to use the Bible as to offend men, possible to set up even a
religious institution, and let men trip over it into hell. Your religious

90 THE CITY TEMPLE.

institutions will become stumbling-blocks, if they are not used reli-
giously ; and your Sabbath days will be days of loss to the world, if
you do not fill their every hour with the Sj^irit of Him who is
Lord of the Sabbath. There is always this choice set before men ; the
choice of an institution, or of healing a man ; the choice between
a law and a life ; the choice between the little and the great ; the
choice between the accidental and the essential. Well, what are we
to do, then, when the choice is set before us 1 Follow the Master ! 1
would never oftend any man's prejudices if I could help it, but if he sets
lip his pi'ejudices between me and a man with a withered hand, or a man
with a dying soul, I must for Christ's sake, and in memory of Christ's
mercy, trample under foot his prejudice, and go to my work. I would
not offend any man — nor would any of my Christian brethren — who
may have deep convictions about this doctrine or that, this institution
or the other ; but we are followers of Christ, and Christ went through
the Sabbath Day to do the work of God ; and we must drive clear
through everything that stands between us and the great mission to
which we are called by Christ the Saviour, and b}' the Holy Ghost.

"And he saith imto them, Is it lawful to do good on the sahbatb days, or to
do evil ? to save life or to kill ? "

These are the lofty challenges of Christianity. Sometimes Christianity
is represented as a kind of half Divine, half human thing, that comes in
with a vast bundle of manuscripts for the purpose of collating this
reading with that, and for the p^^rpose of fighting a battle with grammars
and lexicons, or for the purpose of getting up a great literary contro-
versy. Now, I have no objection to sound criticism ; in fact, the more
we have of it the better. I do not say Christianity has no ai-gument
founded on the letter — nothing of the kind. Every manuscript that
Christianity holds in her hand I would respect; I would encourage
every man who goes in that direction to find defences of the faith
and illustrations of the history of doctrine, but Christianity is some-
thing more — something diviner than that. Christianity comes into the
world and says, "Is it lawful to kill men or to save them'?" Christianity
asks, "Shall men be lost or shall they be saved?" Christianity says,
" I can debate with you under proper circumstances about all these
literary and all these historical difficulties," but the grand questions, the

ON HEALING THE WITHERED HAND. 91

all-absorbiHg and all-inclusive inquiry which Christianity has to put to
the world is this, "Will you be lost or will you be saved ] " And on
that question I have risked my eternal destiny, and I ask you who have
not done so already, to risk yours too. If I were hei'e only to defend
the letter of the Christian religion or the history, you and I might spend
a long time in useless talk ; it miglit, perhaps, be a little useful, or it
might be altogether useless, but what I have to ask you is this, to risk
your destiny on the belief that Christianity (which is only the impersonal
name for Christ) ca)i save men's souls. I do not say that unless you can
answer every difficult question, unless you can reconcile all apparent
discrepancies, unless you can theologise your creed, and ask the highest
questions, and discuss the deepest problems in divinity, therefore you
know nothing about Christianity. I say to every man, woman, and
child, Yoit may touch the hem of the Saviour s garment ; and so full of
life is He, that to do even that is to begin to live \ to do only that is to
enter vipon immortality. So I put it thus — To you who are learned men,
skilled in language, trained in controversy, I say, " Go and work out
your proper vocation — it is a great one, it is one whose importance within
its own sphere can hardly be exaggerated j" but I say to all men, " Take
your stand upon the saving power of Christian truth. Refer to your
own history, point to the history of ten thousand othei's, and risk every-
thing, not upon the discussion of a letter, but upon the salvation of the
soul." When will men who write books, and criticisms, and offer opinions
upon great subjects, when will they look at the highest aspects of
Christianity, when will they answer this loftiest challenge, " I have
come not to destroy men's lives biit to save them " ? I would that,
now and then at least, they would look at these highest challenges
and invitations of the Gospel, that they would grapple with this
question, " Can Jesus Christ save men or not 1 " In order to get
to that question, they may have to go along a very hard and
dusty road ; if they choose to do so, they may ; yet I am confident there
is a shorter path to that great central inquiry ; and if any of you have
been fighting merely on the outside, and debating about comparatively
little things, things which of necessity must perish out of the way, as
the ages come and go, let me ask you to get into the innermost sanctuaiy
of Divine truth, to lay hold of the Cross, and say, " Can this Christian
religion work out the perfect redemption and salvation of the world 1 ''

92 THE CITY TEMPLE.

Jesus Christ takes His stand upon this great inquiry, instead of begin-
ning the question on any lower ground to which His enemies would
have been only too glad to have drawn Him. He stood up in the midst
of them and said, "Is it lawful to do good on the Sabbath days, or to
do evil 1 to save life or to kill f If He had asked some lower question,
many a critic would have answered Him instantly, but asking a question
like tliis, broad as heaven, divine as God, they held their peace.

" Then when he had looked round about on them with anger, being grieved for
the hardness of their hearts, he saith unto the man, Stretch forth thine hand.
And he stretched it out : and his hand was restored whole as the otlier."'

Look upon this, if you please, as a picture. Tltere you have the
enemies of the new faith sitting sullen, silent, watching with many a
bitter feeling expressing itself on the darkening brow ; there you have
the poor man with the withered hand, who has no time for controversy,
for mere word fighting and fencing ; and there you have the Son of God,
looking round Him upon these men, perhaps the flush of anger upon
His face, and yet over it all the shadow of grief. A man is not
righteously angry unless there be sorrow in his indignation ; no man
can be truly joyful until he touches just the borderland of sorrow in his
very ra})ture ; no man can be tiTily angry, according to the anger of
Christ, if there be not in him grief, under it all, over it all, because of
the hardness of anan's heart, Now, Jesus Christ had to do one of two
things ; He had to fall before those who were watching Him, and thus
become the popular man of the hour, or he had to turn round and be the
saviour of one man. This brings upon us the sophism of numbers, the
temptation of majorities, and the shallow things that are talked about
minorities, and the like. Here is Jesus Christ, there is what may be
called the crowd, between them is the one man ; what shall Christ do ]
Say to the man with the withered hand, " Go away ; this is not the pro-
per time to come ; come to-morrow, and we shall see what can be done
for thee " 1 and thus, perhaps, have bought the smiles of those who were
looking on ; but does the great man ever ask who is going to smile upon
him, if he does this or that '? The moment a man can begin to ask him-
self, " Shall I be smiled upon for this ? " I do not care how good a thing
it is aboiit which he is going to ask the qi;estion, he is wrong, he is false,
he is selfish, and his work shall be burned with fire. Jesus Christ was

ON HEALING T^CE WITHERED HAND. S^$

tlie Saviour of the one man ! Follow Chvist in this particular as in others !
If there is anybody to be saved, save him ; do not let the applause of the
hour be the criterion by which we move ; if we can do aught towards
saving a man, that is our duty, and God will give us the reward. Have
you and I ever been kept from doing good to anybody, because we knew
that a certain number of people would be opposed to us, and make
censorious remarks upon us 1 Well, if we trust to ourselves, we ought
to fall under human censure ; but if we work with God, then, beyond
all ^human censure, we hear the voice of Him that approves us, and
whose approbation is strength. Is thei-e a man here with a withered
hand % Is there a man here with the blemish of sin upon him ] Is
there a man who feels that he is not a whole man 1 Is there a man who
feels his incompleteness, and consequent disquiet ? Let me speak to such.
Withered hands come of vnthered hearts ; if there were no withered hearts
there would be no withered hands — make the fountain clear, and the
stream will be pure. So, when I stand here as a Christian teacher,
I have to say, the heart must be made right before the life can be
rectified. The man's soul must be brought into harmony with God
through the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through the mighty ministry
of the Holy Ghost ; and then as to withered hands and incidental defects,
why, they are but the question of a passing hour, they will be thrown
off, and the soul, renewed in its youth, shall never know what it is to be
old. Are you afraid of anybody looking on 1 Do you say that watching
eyes are upon you ; that you feel more like the man with the withered
hand than the watching crowd ; and do you say that if there were nobody
looking, you would go to Christ ; there are your fellow-labourers, your
associates in business, your equals in the social circle ; they are all
watching you. If you can think about these things, you do not yet feel
the burden you are carrying ; when a man does really feel the poignancy
of true sori'ow for sin, when it lays hold of him, and absorbs him, and
dominates his thoughts and his whole being, then he cares not who may
be watching ; he cares not who may be su.spicious ; he says, " I am the
man to be saved, yonder is the man who can save me j if I perish I will
go ; — Lord, I believe ; help Thou mine unbelief." If any man shall say
so great a saying as that in Christ's hearing, he shall have given to him
not only healing, but Eternal Life. Is it needful that I should tarry
long to persuade men that all incompleteness comes of sin, and that all

94 THE CITY TEMPLE.

sin can be met destructively only by the power of Jesus Christ ] Our
hearts almost fail \is, when we repeat, times without number, to the
same deaf ears, that Jesus Christ is the only Saviour of the world, and
when we attempt, after innumerable failures, to persuade blunt-minded
and superficial reformers that, in order to make the fruit good, they must
first make the tree itself good. This is the vital difference between
"work that is distinctively Christian and all other woi-k. Jesus Christ
worked from the heart. Setting Himself at the very fountain of life,
He sought, by healing the spring, to purify the streaui. Other workers
address themselves, it may be benevolently enough, to the mere symp-
toms; and their service is appreciated by men who have no insight into
causation, blind readers of the tragic story of the human world, but
rightly estimated by the higher men, who view life from the all-
commanding elevation of Christ's Cross. I do not say one word against
associations established for the purpose of relieving bodily distress, or
educating the popiilar mind, so as to enable men to adapt the discoveries
of science to the extension of social comfort. As collateral agencies these
are of the utmost importance, but as remedies for dead hearts and alien
spirits they are the most empty and tormenting mockeries. Christianity
includes within its benign purpose all social improvements, all bodily
recoveries, all domestic peace, all national progress. To work apart from
Christianity is to fail in touching the world's disease. As well may you
seek to raise the dead, by re-lettering their tombstones, as to give men
the highest life by improving, even to the point of decoration^ their social
circumstances. Paint your cheeks, in order to give yourselves health ;
dress the putrid bodies of the dead, and set them up at the banquet
table, in oixler to recall the vanished joys of your household ; surround
the drivelling idiot with the profoundest books and the choicest works of
art, in order to show your skill in recovering his fallen mind ; do these
things, and you will act with infinitely more reason than they act who
banish Christ from their counsels, and seek to dispossess the devil by
enlarging and refining his habitation in the human heart.

ON HEALING THE WITHERED HAND. 95

What, then, is the world-wide, ever-abiding truth taught by such
pathetic incidents as those which have occupied our attention for the
hist three Thursdays 1 Is it not clear that Jesus Christ identified him.
self with the men who most needed his sympathy, and that he was not
to be turned from liis purpose by adverse public opinion 1 This should
be the unchanging course of His Church, We shall make little or no
impression u])on the miscalled righteousness of the age ; we must go
do^^^l to its sins and speak the word of hope to its sinners, and by our
gentleness make lowly men great. The sinner is the client of the
Church, The despised man, wherever he may be, is to be sought out
and honoured by the servant of Jesus Christ. Our mission never
changes. It is right to study the times and to adapt methods to condi-
tions, but the one immutable call of God is to seek and to save the
lost. This is to be done in Jesus Christ's spirit. Not with ostentation,
not with the stoop of conscious superiority, not in foolish defiance
of ordinary habits, but in simplicity and with godly sincerity, with
all gentleness and purity, neither courting poj^ularity nor shunning
reproach. We hear of "respectable congregations," of "very rich con-
gregations," of " very select and fasliionable congregations ;" I have
no sympathy with such descriptions. Look at Jesus Christ's con-
gregations ; see the poor, the miserable, the friendless, the outcast,
that crowded around Him, and let us try to be as attractive to such
as he was. The Church is departing far from Jesus Christ in many
things. The Church is critical, selfish, narrow-minded ; not, indeed, the
true Church, but the Church so-called ; there is still, blessed be God, an
inner circle filled with the love of Christ and working mightily, with all
})atience and zeal, for the recovery of men. Our societyism must be
broken up or thoroughly modified; individuality must be developed;
ofilcial appointments must be revised ; eflfbrt must be concentr.ited ; a
holier spirituality of mind must be cultivated ; if we would apjiroach a
Idealisation of our high calling. It is quite possible for a Sunday-school
teacher to be doing more good than an archbishop — yes, jjossib'e for a
teacher of the most destitute to be as the angel of God, whi'st the
loi"dliest director of the Church may have no standing recogniscnl and
honoured by Jesus Christ. Oh, that we might know the mystery of the
Cross / Do we suffer in our work ? Do we bow our stiff necks to the
yoke of loving yet exhausting labour ? Or do we walk on velvet, and

96 TUE CITY TEMPLE.

enjoy every luxury of the world ? May we never forget that
Christianity without the Cross is Christianity without Christ, and that
heaven is probably never reached by tlie sunny and tlowery slopes
of worldly respectability. lu memory of our last three subjects,
Zaccheus, the sinner, the good Samaritan, and the healing of the
man with the withered hand, let us encourage all who work for the
heart's recovery. Opponents you will have ; discouragements will fall
to your lot ; the multitude will murmur, the priest and Levite will not
know you ; the technicalists will sullenly watch ; your business, how-
ever, is not with them, but with the Master. Do not strive with them.
You cannot thaw the thick ice of their heartlessness — yo\i cannot plough
the rock, or humanise those who withstood the Saviour Himself : go to
others; there is field enough for all courage and skill ! I am afraid some
of us may be too anxious to secure respectable recognition for our work,
and by so much may fall below the spirit which animated and sustained
the Saviour. The work must be cared for, on its own account ; then
shall our inspiration be imquenchable by the floods of opposition.

Report of a Service conducted by

JOSEPH PAEKEE,

In the Poultry Chapel, on Thursday Morning, November 11th, 1869.

^^t frapr.

Blessed Saviour, may our hearts be full of love. May all wlio name
Thy name show their love to the world by many convincing signs. May
we be kindly affectioned one to another, in honour preferring one
another ; and may we vindicate our profession of faith in Jesus Christ
by adding to godliness brotherly kindness. May we be one in Christ as
Christ is one with the Father ; and as we believe that the Lord our God
is one Lord, so may His Church be distinguished by loving and intelli-
gent unitjr, and may it powerfully impress the world with the beauty and
dignity and nobleness of Christian brotherhood. May no root of bitter-
ness spring up to trouble us ; may we be as a band of men whose hearts
God has touched — fearing God, we shall know no other fear ; and loving
Jesus Christ, all other affection shall be swallowed up in that great
homage. Let Thy Spirit dwell with us ; let our minds be enlightened
with a light that is heavenly ; and may our hearts be touched as with
fire from the altar that is above. May the devil have no place in us.
May his unclean altar have no place in our hearts. May his speech be
a forgotten tongue, and may no trace of his image be discoverable in our
countenance. Fill us with thine own love ! And to God the Father,
God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost, be universal and immortal
praise. Amen.

Clje Strm0iT*

ON SO AM I ; OR, HUMAN SIMILARITIES.

"Whereinsoever any is bold ... I am bold also. Are they Hebrews?
so ani I. Are they Israelites? so am I. Are they the seed of Abraham? so
am I."— 2 Corinthians xi. 21, 22.

Men are sometimes called upon to say distinctly what they are, and to
speak about themselves with tlie utmost plainness of speech. It is not
all egotism that is called egotism ; if egotism were to be determined by
the mere use of the first personal pronoun, then the New Testament, in
some of its parts at least, is the most egotistical book in the world. I
think that truth, has a great deal to gain from the sharpness of individual
expression and testimony. The fine gold of true doctrine loses nothing
by being united witb different images and superscriptions, provided
always, it be clearly understood tliat the gold is God's and the stamping
alone is man's. I have observed in life, that when personal expei'iences
and positions are compared in a candid sj^irit, that we are a good
deal like one another ; that when heart speaks to heart a universal lan-
guage is employed, and that altogether there is not a little sympathy and
rhythm in human lives, when men shake themselves out of the gilded
shackles of tradition and artificialism. To a very large extent, the
expression, " So am I," might be addressed by Christian men to one
another. Now and then, no doubt, the expression might occasion
surprise, as being quite unexpected and at first almost incredible ; but
what men want in this higher life is to get a little nearer to one another,
and the expression, " So am I," will be the watchword of a noble and
indissoluble brotherhood. The subject of the morning may be called
" So am I ; " or, " The union of men deeper than external circum-
stances"— "So am I;" or, "Human union vital, not accidental" — "So
am I j " or, " The unexpected oneness of men ; " and I have chosen
that great subject with a view to breaking down various distinctions, and
with a hope of showing in some degree that our differences are but so
many facets of one diamond, which Christ will regard as the choicest

ON SO AM I ; OR, HUMAN SIMILARITIES. 99

and costliest jewel in His crown — the diamond of recovered and sanc-
tified Liimanity. How varied, how compi'ehensive, are the subjects on
which we, as Christian thinkers and Christian servants, are agreed !
When for an hour we can deliver ourselves from the pressure of our
infirmities and characteristic littlenesses as finite creatures ; when we
can compare the deepest beliefs of our heart, and the highest experiences
of our nature, how truly one we are after all, how diversified soever
may be the badges and the labels by which we are distributed into
various classifications. I do not address one denomination now, I trust
— except in the highest sense of a Christian denomination. We have
brought many little ecclesiastical diflferences into this one house, but I
venture to say that there is amongst us, whatever may be the denomi-
nation we represent, a vital union, a union of love, a oneness of faith
admitting of the most diversified expression, yet essentially and
unchangeably one. Take the Church, and deal with it in its general
sections, and what have we? What unity of belief we have in all the
highest questions in theology ; speaking generally, speaking almost
universally, we believe in God the Father, God the Son, and God the
Holy Ghost ; we believe in the sinfulness of men ; we believe that the .^
Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ is God's answer to the great difficulty of
sin ; we believe that there is no way to the Father of to Heav; n but
through Jesus Christ the Lamb of God, who taketh away the sins of the
world ; we believe that the work of regeneration and sanctification is to
be done by God the Holy Ghost ; and I contend that being one ui)on
such points as these, any little differences that may arise, or any compa-
ratively great diversities of opinion that may be developed, should not
keep us back from that hearty, intelligent, loving unity, which after all
is the grandest exhibition of Christian life which the world can under-
stand, and which society can feel. We have acknowledged differences ;
but I believe there is nothing in these differences that is vital, if properly
understood. Let us look at the points upon which we do agree, and
let special prominence be given to those points. I do not know that
every denomination should break in upon the same village, and insist
upon forcing its o\vn particular notions of ecclesiastical government upon
the inhabitants. If the Wesleyan Methodists have fully provided for
the Christian teachings of any given population, why should the
Independents resolve to have a chapel of their own 1 And, on the other
hand, if the Independents have made adequate provision for the religious
instruction of a village, why should the Wesleyan Methodists open a
room, and compete for the support of the people 1 We are saved by
Jesus Christ, and not by special forms of Church government ; it is the
Cross, and not the Church book which leads to heaven. It is allowed

100 THE CITY TEMPLE.

to lis that we provoke one anotlier to love and good works ; but when
ambitious rivalry takes the place of fraternal stimulus, the uppei-most
hand has been given to the devil .

Are you members of the Established Church? "So am I." You
and I both believe that the Church ought to be established. Your idea
of establishment is to secure permanence, stability, influence, high
position in society ; so is mine. We may, perhaps, difier somewhat in our
definitions of an Established Church. You may have notions that I
cannot receive, yet so far as the substantial notion of Established
Churches is concerned — so far as it involves everything that is vital and
enduring and Divine — yovi and I are perfectly at one. I should not
think of establishing the Church by law ; I should as soon think of
establishing Gods works as of establishing God's word. I should as
soon think of establishing the light of the sun, and appointing legislators
to watch over the movements of the stars, as I should think of appointing
legislators to look after the purity of God's doctrines and the vitality of
God's Word. I believe the Church is established — " On this rock will
I build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it" —
and in Christ's establishment of the Church I find all the establishment
I want. But then some of my brethren, who are quite as capable of
dealing with the question as I am, take a different view ; put in some-
thing beyond this, which they may consider as of the same quality, and
as worthy of the position to which they advance it. I cannot agree
with them. Shall we, therefore, be enemies of one another 1 Shall we
be hostile in our attitude 1 Shall we indulge in acrimonious contro-
versy, and in giving the enemy occasion to rejoice over us 1 Not at all.
Those who believe in a lower earthly establishment, let them say so ;
let them argue their question with all intelligence and dignity, and
vindicate their position with all charity and highmindedness ; and let
those who believe in an establishment of Divine triith solely by Divine
power, so live and so work as to be themselves the best argument that
can be advanced in favour of such an establishment as that for which
they contend. The Church will not fail : our little sects may change a
good deal ; our little denominational huts may be considerably over-
thrown ; but God's Chui-ch, which God himself has been purposing
from eternity to set up in the universe — God's Church, that rests on
Christ's person and Christ's work, and that is animated by the Holy
Ghost — will never fail. Heaven and earth shall pass away, but Christ's
Church shall not pass away. What I want vis all to see is this : that we
believe in an Established Church ; we believe in a Church that is perfectly
secure ; yet we say its secuiity depends in no degree upon the strength
of our arm, but rests entirely on the omnipotence and sufficiency of God.

ON SO AM I ; OR, HUMAN SIMILARITIES. lOl

And whilst we differ upon the ways of setting forth this doctrine, let us
cultivate a spirit of brotherly kindness that shall speak even hard words
with a gentle emphasis.

Are you Dissenters ? So am I. The world could never get on as
it is at present constituted but for political and religious dissent. The
world would fall into stagnation, if men did not take different views of
things, and did not assert with becoming language, and at right times,
principles that were considei-ed to be principles of righteousness and
truth. You dissent from the Church of Rome ; some dissent from us ;
one denomination dissents from every other denomination in some
particular, less or greater. There is, therefore, as a matter of fact, this
great movement of dissent amongst us, political, religious, social. We
dissent from all that is corrupt, from all that is selfish, from all that is
merely earthly, from all that would exert an unholy or malign influence
upon the morals of society and the progress of mankind. What, then,
because we dissent from one another, shall any man set himself up as
infallible, as the judge of his brethren, condemning everybody that does
not exactly come up to his standard 1 Shall we regard our dissenting
from one another as a licence for hard speaking, for uncharitable con-
struction of one another's spirit and method ? Certainly not. If we
are onli/ dissenters, then are we a miserable horde ; if we live in dissent,
and breathe in dissent, and move in dissent, and are never easy but when
we are dissenting from somebody, and would dissent from ourselves if we
were living in the world quite alone, then, I say, I have no sympathy
with that kind of intellectual activity ; it is a terrible, fearful activity
from which I, for one, wish to be placed at a considerable distance. But
all that is involved in intelligence of mind, in freeness of heart, in liberty
of speech, I contend for, you contend for ; and therefore the Ejiiscopalian,
the Independent, the Methodist, and the Presbyterian, can say to one
another, using the words in their highest and not in their lowest
acceptation. Are you Dissenters 1 So am I. There is even here a
point of union which should be encouraged and strengthened, and as
often as possible developed, so that society may feel it.

Are you members of the High Church ? So am I. I believe in a
High Church with all my heart. We may have diSerent methods of
measuring height ; we may not all ap2:)ly the same rule ; we may have
different lengths, different standards ; but if you ask me if I am a member
of the High Church, I say "Yes, and hope evermore to be/' The Church
never can be too high ; "Ye are a city set on a hill which cannot be hid "
—high in all that is pure in doctrine, consistent in life, noble in spirit
high in Scriptural testimony, high in moral courage on behalf of all that
is considered to be for the elevation of down-trodden human nature, and

10^

THE CITY TEMPLE.

the vindication of divinely- revealed truths. Yes ; I am a member of the
High Church. Perhaps some who are members of the High Church
may like a little more finery than I can exactly see with at present ;
they may want a good deal of artificial exhibition, the meaning of which
I cannot comprehend, it is either too shallow for me, or too deep for me ;
but that is not my High Church.

In speaking about the High Church, popularly so known, we oi^ht to
make oiirselves veiy clear on one point, and in doing so there is no
occasion to violate the tender spirit of charity in which the whole of this
discourse is conceived. So far as false doctrine is upheld by symbolism,
symbolism is mischievous. The sacranients are perverted into tempta-
tions, and the Divine method of salvation is exchanged for a system of
unholy art. Whatever tends to materialise the spirit of Christianity
must be our offence to the Holy Ghost. It is a departure from the
course along which the Divine movement has been proceeding from the
very beginning, and a protest against spirituality. The place of the
Holy Spirit is, indeed, usurped, and His function is forgotten in a worldly
zeal for decoration and histrionic power. At this point, therefore,
charity itself comj>els us to take our stand. Charity ceases to be
charitable when it ceases to be just. Charity is not distrust of truth ;
it is truth spoken with gentleness. "Whoever uses Protestant weapons to
light Popish battles abuses a high trust, and charity itself condemns
them in tones not less severe because of the i-elaetance with which they
are employed. Blessed are they who never wish to be higher than the
truth, and who despise all the fascinations of form in comparison with
the inspiration of the Holy Ghost.

The height of my Church is found in the loftiness of my doctrine, in
the elevation of my Christian sentiment, in the public vindication of
Divine truth, to which I feel myself called by the Holy Ghost.

Are you members of the Low Church ? So am I. No Church can
be too low, if we rightly understand that word " low." I am sometimes
afraid that the Church is going to die of respectability ; I am afraid
that the Chiirch is muffling herself up in silks and satins and velvets,
and is set down in easy places, and enjoying herself while the devil is
doing his work almost without interruption.

If you mean by a Low Church a Church that is down, down into the
ditch, and the gutter, and the cellar, that goes down to seek God's like-
ness where God's image can hardly be seen by leaaon of the orergrown
animalism of human nature ; if by the Low Chm"ch you mean going after
that which is lost until you find it, cheering the lowest man, nourishing
and educating the lowest little child ; if that is what you mean by being
members of a Low Church, I am also of that same Church a member.

ON SO AM I ; OR, HUMAN SIMILARITIES, 103

Our Saviour's spirit compels such membership. We cannot be always on
the mountain top, away from the putrid life and evil influence of society ;
we must go down where man is lying in his guilt and in his weak-
ness, and raise him up, and invite him to return to his Father. That
is the Low Church in which I believe, and such lowness is the true
dignity ; such descent is the true elevation ; and if we are standing aside,
and saying, "■ Shall we go down to them, or shall they come up to us ]"
we have not known the mind of Jesus Christ. I will say one word
about that ; it is a subject to which I revert again and again, because
as the subject is always there, the answer ought often to be forthcoming.
If any man who professes the name of Christ can say, " Shall I go down to
these people, or shall these people come up to me V I say, you have taken
Christ's name, but you have left behind Christ's spirit. Go down 1 Yes,
in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Ghost. Yes ; He
who bore the image of God, and tliought it not robbery to be equal with
God, made Himself of no reputation, took upon Him the form of a
servant, became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross ; and
whilst He did that, who are we, with our yesterday's ancestry, with our
mushroom dignity, with our hateful selfishness, that we should turn
aside in cold, frosted, awful respectability, and say " Shall loe go down % "
There is only one reason why we should not go down, and that is, if we
can ask such a question, because there is no lower depth to which we
can descend. He who is most in Christ will be deepest in the religion
of His service, and there shall be found no lowness in Christian work
that is not consistent with the purest and divinest dignity.

Are you a member of the Broad Church ? So am I. I do dislike
narrow churches ; I do dislike little, little self-enclosing, self- subsisting
clubs of so-called Christian professors. I find notliing narrow in
Christianity. I find Christianity the broadest system, either of religion,
or of thought, or of philanthropy, that I can find in the world. If
there are persons that wi-ap their little sectarian garments about them,
and say, " We are the people of God, and there is no other people that
belong to Him," then are they liars, and the truth is not in them.
Little people that live in a nutshell, which they mistake for the universe,
that have their own little Bethel, and their own little hymn-book, and
their own little sectarian movements, and their own little heaven, I do
not know anything about them, except that, having heard about them, I
do not wish to proseciite inquiry further. If there are such people — no, I
would not alter that grammar, and say if there he such people, hoping that
their existence is quite contingent and future — if there be such people,
they know nothing about the Divine, catholic, universal liberty of Jesus
Christ's teaching. I trust that we all belong to the Broad Church, that

104 THE CITY TEMPLE,

we hail a brother, whatsoever be the temporary name by which he is
known in ecclesiastical life ; and that we allow heart to speak to heart,
and know something of the free intercourse of brotherly unity in Christ
Jesus.

Are you Puritans ? So am I. The Church cannot be too pure ; the
Church is nothing, if she is not holy. I cannot consider the word
Church as involving in its highest significance every kind of moral
character. I believe that strait is the road, and strait is the gate
that leadeth into the inner kingdom of Jesus Christ's truth ; I
beHeve that all who profess to be members of Jesus Christ's Church
should come out of the world, should separate themselves to the utmost
possible extent from all evil ; should touch not, taste not, handle not
the unclean thing. I believe that the pillar of the Church is the holi-
ness of the Church, and only as we approach God's perfectness do we
realize the true idea of Christian character. Brethren, amid all our
charity, let us see that we are not talking the language of sentiment
only, but the language which is justified by our holiness of spixit and
holiness of life. There is a charity that is uncharitable ; there is a
charity of which the aj)ostle never spoke in the beautiful chapter we
have just read ; there is a charity that is but outward, a base simulation
of the Divine, all-encompassing love which comes out of true Christian
life. If we have any patience, therefore, with lax morality in the
Church j if we can wink at one another's moral weakness ; if we have
one standard of discipline for the rich, and another for the poor ; if we
have a poor man's morality, and a rich man's righteousness, — then is our
Church a den of thieves, and the Holy Ghost hath abandoned us to the
darkness and wickedness of our own devices. The Church, I repeat, is
nothing, apart from the Holy Ghost. Therefore, if by a Puritanical
Church is meant a Church that is severe in its moral inquests, a Church
that seeks to develope the highest idea of spiritual life, then, by the
grace of God helping me, I would be a Puritan of the Puritans.

Are you a Methodist, or a Fresbyterian ? So am I. If by these terms
you mean that there ought to be order in the Chui'ch, order that is con-
sistent with liberty, liberty that is defined by intelligent Christian law,
then am I as much a Methodist, a Presbjrterian, as you are. The Church
is not a mob, the Church is not a chaotic society, in which, every man
sets up to be the greatest man in the body, and in which there is no law
but what a man may choose himself to conceive as the law. The Church
of Jesus Christ is a well-ordered organization, as a building the stones
of which are fitly set together. In the Christian Church there is a law of
proportion, there is a divinely-appointed graduation. God sets men in the
Church, every one of them as it pleaseth Him ; and if we begin to set up

ON SO AM I ; OR, HUMAN SIMILARITIES. 105

oixr notions against His revelation, or if we interpret Divine love in a
spirit of selfishness, we contract tlie universal within the sphere of the
sectarian ; then are we not worthy to be found in the register of God's
Church. We may have different little methods of seeking order ; we
may have our own peculiar and distinctive plans of working out this
theory, and that. What I contend for is this : that we are at perfect
liberty to have these various plans, we are at perfect liberty to have our
denominationalism so defined, but that having these varieties we are still
one — one in Christ, one in the Cross, one in our hope of Heaven — and
being one in all these things, such difiierences as have now been referred
to ought not for a moment to interfere with deep, constant, and useful
Christian intercourse. I am free to say this, that I care but very little
about the nominal unification of Christendom. There is something
deeper than mere names. I believe that in the deepest sense all
Christians are one, and that in the deepest sense the Church of Jesus
Christ is indivisible. We are not one after the pattern of a brick wall ;
we are one as the rainbow is one ; we are many regiments, but one army ;
we are many counties, but one empire ; we are distinct as the waves, yet
one as the sea, lonely as the stai-s, but one as the firmament ; we are
diversified as the mountains, but one as the globe. Let any attack be
made- upon the fundamental doctrines of Christianity, and from what
quarter does the reply come 1 It never comes from anj/ one quarter.
Let an heretical book be written that requires a reply, and who writes
the book 1 The book is not written by any particular section of the Church.
The Episcopalian is ready with his answer ; so is the Independent ; the
Presbyterian, the Methodist, the Baptist, the Wesleyan ; they are, too,
ready with their answers, and the answers are not many, hut one. And
I find in this instantaneous and complete reply to every attack that has yet
been made upon the Christian — I find in this reply, coming not from one
quarter, or from two, but from all quarters, a noble and sensible answer
to the charge that Jesus Christ's Church is divided, and there is no
cohesion amongst its atoms. Brothers, I do not care for uniformity ;
I do not work towards uniformity ; I leave that to things that are
inanimate ; I work for living souls who have living faith ; for indi-
viduality of character controlled by meekness of heart ; for independence
of conviction working under the inspiration of love. Now, shall we
pledge ourselves to the spirit of these principles ? I do not ask you to
accept my phraseology. I have spoken with a sincere intent to bring
men who are in Christ over some little difficulty that may be perhaps
here and there. I have been anxious to establish a recognition of our
identity of life in Jesus Christ. No one of us must claim perfection
no one must get up and say about things that are of secondary impor

106 THE CITY TEMPLE.

tance, "This is right, and that is wi-ong." We must, in these non-
essential things, have the widest liberty. All I want to say is this,
We are subjects of the same crown ; we have different ways of express-
ing our patriotism or of developing our concern for the empire ; but if
an evil hand is laid upon the throne, we instantaneously, universally,
through the unquenchable inspiration of love, rise to its defence, to
protect it from the indignity which evil men would inflict upon it.

May the time come, yea, it will surely come, when to one another we
shall say, " We are citizens now of the Heavenly Empire, saints and
angels gathered from ^every kindred and nation and people and tongue,
all little differences forgotten ; we are one in our Father's house, and
shall go out no more for ever."

In view of the truth thus freely yet lovingly spoken, a question might
be raised as to practical issues. Can anything be done in a specific
manner to show oxir oneness in Christ Jesus 1 I answer — Don't let us
enlarge anything that belongs to the department of mere organization. I
cannot but think that this Thursday service is itself a very impressive
illustration of Christian unity. We represent nearly all denominations,
yet here we know nothing of denominationalism. No man can have
inferred from my preaching what form of Church government I prefer.
I have ever spoken from the solemn and all-commanding elevation of
the Cross, not in the provincial accent of sectarianism, but in the
universal language of humanity. One suggestion of a practical kind has
undoubtedly occurred to me ; 1 name it now, and leave its further con-
sideration with others. Might we not, as members of various Christian
communities, meeting here from time to time, occasionally — say once a
year — partake of the Lord's Supper together ] In doing so, we would
surrender nothing that is distinctive; we would assert the unity of
believers as sinners saved by the Son of God ; and meeting each other in
this lofty spiritual intercourse, we should feel a tenderer charity towards
one another in all the lower fellowships and co-operations of life. I do
not conceal my dislike of organization except in its most rudimental
forms. The Church is hampered by organization. Fellowship is marred
by intricate rules. Once carry law-making beyond the point that is
absolutely needful for the simplest form of society, and you endanger
imion by verbal controversy, and the skilful technicalist gets the mastery
by the sheer force of criticism. Love must be our law ; trust must be
our strength ; and hope must be our inspiration. Our love of one

ON SO AM I ; OR, HUMAN SIMILARITIES. 107

anotlier, as believers in Jesus Christ, should be too pure and ardent to
admit of being bound by written pledges. We want no documentary-
evidence of love ; we want love itself, warming and brightening our
whole social life. If I might presume to offer one word of advice to a
particular class, 1 should say to ministers, Mold one another in high
ho7ioiiT. Criticise each other's worh as largely and keenly as you can,
but speak the noble word about the ivorker : we can do one another the
most valuable service by criticism, but never by personal censoriousness.
I ask no man to turn aside the edge of his weapon whilst trying the
quality of my work, but I ask for that personal consideration and
honour which are due to every servant for the Master's sake. We
educate each other by criticism ; we strengthen each other by love.
May the Spirit of Life keep us from the ghastly uniformity of death,
and bind us in the blessed Unity of Christ's Oneness with the Father.
Amen.

Citji Ccmple '^ottB.

1. It may be convenient to strangers to know that there is a good entrance to
the chapel from Grocers' Hall Court; or, if they go through the new passage
marked 8, Old Jewry, they will come immediately upon the chapel door. By
taking this course they will escape the jiressure at the front entrance, and be very
likely to secure comfortable accommodation. There need not be any difEculty
about the ingress from 8, Old Jewry ; a door or two may have to be opened, but
right of way has, most fortunately, been permitted by the owners of the property.

2. We have been urged to repeat the Service at another hour on Thursdays, so
as to meet the wishes of great numbers unable to attend at twelve o'clock. We
should gladly do so but for one or two reasons which appear to be weighty : —
(1) There is some ground to fear that a divided interest would weaken both
services ; and (2) It is almost certain that divided vigour would impair the
efficiency of the ministry. That twelve o'clock is a convenient hour for many
is proved by the congregations already in attendance. We shall be only too glad
to consider any feasible plan for meeting the wishes of men whose time is not at
their own disposal. We await suggestions.

3. In answer to many friendly inquiries, it occurs to us to say that we have
much reason to be encouraged in our work. We labour vinder no little disadvantage
in consequence of the peculiar construction of the Poultry Chapel ; both the i^rin-
cipal entrances are on the same side, and when they are blocked up by waiting
strangers two difficulties arise : — (1.) The stated seat-holders find it almost impos-
sible to get to their seats ; and (2. ) Visitors who come later turn back, under the
impression that the chapel is crowded. Great inconvenience would be prevented,
and much time saved, if the information given in our first note could be remem-
bered and acted upon. As to the work itself, there is but one thing wanted to
complete our assurance that God is with us ; without that one thing no ministry
can be world-wide in its range, or long-enduring in influence — that one thing is
persecution. We have been waiting for this. We must be wrong somewhere, or
it would have come before now. We cannot have spoken of evil with sufficient
emphasis, else the devil would have tried to spoil our work. It is not enough to
have heard of an odd man here and there who has tried to sneer ; that is nothing ;
when fierce, bitter, malignant abuse is lavishly accorded to a minister, he may
believe that he has struck in the right place with the right weapon. All history
seems to bear out the statement that abuse is necessary to the fullest success in
preaching the gospel. Whether we look to Jesus Christ himself, to His most
renowned disciples and apostles, or to the men who have left names that will be
prized through all generations, it is invariably true that they have had to suffer the
scourge of evil tongues. Not only so, their lot was harder still; their friends
did not believe in them ; their brethren withheld from them confidence and
honour ; and oftentimes they were left in loneliness and poverty. In view of such
history, we may see how far we fall short of being in the succession of Jesus Christ's
mightiest men.

Report of a Service coj^ducted by

JOSEPH PARKER,

In the Poultry Chapel, on Thursday Morning, November 18th, 1869.

After singing the hymn commencing "Come, let us join our cheei-ful
songs," the following passages of Scripture were repeated : —

"The kingdom of God is not meat and drink, but righteousness and peace and
joy in the Holy Ghost."

" The kingdom of God is within you."

" The kingdom of God is not in word, but in power."

" S.eek ye first the kingdom of God."

Blessed Saviour, Thy kingdom come ! Set up Thy throne in our
hearts, and cause all we are and all we have to fall down before Tliee in
the loyalty of perfect love. Too long have we been our own gods
and kings, but now we come with tears and hope to Thee, that Thou
mayest be our Lord from this day, time without end. Thou wast slain
for us ; Thoii didst bear our sins in Thine own body on the tree. Now
we would give Thee exaltation ; we would hail Tliee as our Prince ; we
would serve Thee as our Master ; we would love Thee for all Thy work.
O Lamb of God ! O Chosen of the Father ! dwell with us ; help us to
grow in Thy grace and Thy knowledge, and to show forth amongst men
the mystery and power of Thy kingdom. O Thou who givest eternal
life, speak to us, then shall we never die. Amen.

10

NOT IN WORD, BUT IN POWER.

" For the kingdom of God is uot iu word, but iu power." — 1 CoR. iv. 20.

In the Corinthian Church, that riotous school in which every scholar
set himself up as a master, there were some persons wlio, being exceed-
ingly puffed up with their own importance, always had a good deal to
say, and they said it with that boldness and inflation of manner which is
taken by some people as the sign of Divine authority. They were
evidently prodigious talkers, like men in our own day, living under the
modest impression that when they die wisdom will perish out of the
land ; men who say all they know, jet do not always know all they
say ; men without ideas, without convictions, and w^ithout anything
but immeasurable emptiness and infinite capacity for making a noise.
Utterly imfit to gi-asp any great subject in its unity, they see some little
shadows of it here and there, and mistaking the part for the whole,
they make a noisy claim for self-inspiration and consequent infallibility.
All great talkers of little talk are dangerous, not because of their j^ower,
but because of their weakness. Tlie tongue of conceit is a cruel master.
It talks itself into madness. It likes to hear its own patter even at
the expense of the comfort of all whom it frets and chafes into a resent-
ment which cannot be dignified by reason of the contemptibleness of the
object which has excited it. In the Corinthian Church there were some
pufted-up talkers making themselves very large in the Apostle's absence,
probably setting forth new doctrines, or ende^ivouring by such secrecy
and circumvention as are possible to evil genius to upset the autho-
I'ity of the inspired teachei-s ; they were clamorous and urgent talkers,

NOT IN WORD, BUT IN POWER. Ill

never giving anybody a chance of reply — most unaccountably wise men,
knowing everything and a little more, and saying it as if they had
received privileged communications from Heaven. They made a good
deal of the Apostle's absence, apparently giving bi-oad hints that the
Apostle would never show his face in Corinth, or that if he did, he would
be met by severe criticism, or perhaps by claims to an authority equal to
his own. Paul, however, was never kept back by a puff of wind ; there
might be lions in his way, but he had a happy plan of never looking at
them, or passing them with a self-possession which utterly confounded
and paralyzed the dangerous beasts. He told the Corinthians that he
would visit them shortly, and that he would judge, not the speech, but
the power of the puffed-up talkers, and then he laid down this sublime
doctrine ; " The kingdom of God is not in word, but in power." The
kingdom of G-od is not a wordy controversy, but a quickening spirit ;
the kingdom of God is not a clever debate, a feat in logic, a conundrum
in metaphysics, but a life, a reality, the mightiest and most beneficent
of powers. Whether the kingdom of God is in any man depends, not
upon what he says, but upon what lie is ; not upon his professions, but
upoil his actions ; not upon his skill in words, but upon his life in God
and his rank in the spiritual universe.

It may be well to point out that the kingdom of God has a word pecu-
liarly its own ; it is not a mere impression upon the mind, secret and
inarticulate ; it has a distinct testimony of its own — outward, audible,
positive demonstrations. But they are not mere words or signs ; they are
full of life, bright with Divine glory, sacred with the presence and energy
of the Holy Ghost. Some men's words cost them nothing ; other men's
words are spirit and life ; God's word is as near being God himself as it
is possible for the speech to be the speaker. I pause to say this, because
there is some danger of religion becoming to some minds only a beautiful
dream, or a mystic contemplation — an afiiatus, odorous and refreshing to
the secret heart, but having no message to the world, no authoritative
law to society. We claim for the kingdom of God positive dogmas, a
visible embodiment, and an ethical legislation ; dogma, sign, and statute,
however, being nothing, except as God breathes into them the power of
His own eternity. I wish to gather up a few practical lessons which are
taught or illustrated by the statement that " the kingdom of God is not
in word, but in power."

l;12 THE CITY TEMPLE,

Jjooh'sit the subject in relatioji to individual Christian life. It is one
thing to feel tlie power of God in the soul, and another to be able to vin-
dicate doctrines and to establish a great visible outwork of service. Men
cannot always do themselves justice in speech ; yet, where there are few
words, tliere may be true power. On the other hand, men may have
great facility in speech, yet their hearts may be put partially under Divine
dominion. A man should himself always be greater than his words.
However eloquent his speech, his life should be deeper, broader, diviner,
than any words can ever reveal. It is possible, too, that from the
poorest words there may be poured an irresistible, all-convincing, and all-
blessing life, as from the bush in Horeb there flamed a glory not of earth,
and from the raiment of the transfigured Nazarene there shone a bright-
ness more splendid than the fire of the sun. The Apostle gives us some
such idea of his own preaching when he says, " My speech and my
preaching was not with enticing words of man's wisdom, but in demon-
stration of the spirit and of power." Again : " Our Gospel came not
unto you in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Ghost, and in
much assurance." Our words are not accepted because they are poor;
but in so far as they come from the heart, and exjiress the life that we
enjoy in Christ, the Holy Ghost will invest them with power, and the
little one shall prevail against the great army. Let every man, therefore,
who undertakes to extend the word of the Divine kingdom feel himself
called upon to do his best, however poor that may be. No teacher of
the Gospel is warranted in being indolent, and in defending his indolence
by the plea that the kingdom of God does not depend upon his word, but
upon its own power. We are to do the best for that kingdom which it
is within the compass of our ability to render, as if everything depended
upon our personal energy ; and having done so, though the result may
be, in the estimation of the world, weak, and even contemptible, yet it is
in such weakness that God magnifies His own strength. Paul said to the
Galatians, " Ye know how through infirmity of the flesh I preached the
Gospel unto you at first ;" yet to them he said also, " Let us not be
weary in well-doing, for in due season we shall reap if we faint not." There ■
was a power in the truth to work out its own result apart from the defect
and weakness of the spirit. We should be taught, too, by this reference
to personal infirmity, that we are not to find in such infirmity an excuse
for not attempting to serve the kingdom of God. It ought to be enough

NOT IN WORD, BUT IN POWER. 113

for us to know tliat God hath chosen the weak things of this world to
confound the things that are mighty ; He calls us into His service, not
that He needs our power to help, but that He may, by engaging us in
His lofty work, train us to a higher nobleness and strength of soul.

The point on which I wish to insist is this. The power of the heavenly
kingdom may be the supreme sovereignty of a man's heart, and yet he
may not have much skill in the use of words ; his argument may be ill-
constructed, and his controversial weapons may be turned on himself
with mortal effect by some skilled and heartless controversialist, who,
seeing the ruin he has wreaked upon the Christian argument, may laugh
the Christian advocate to scorn ; yet in the heart of the Christian
advocate there is the dominion of Divine love, and hi his life there is a
sanctity which comes only of deep and long-continued intercourse with
the Holy Ghost.

A man is not to be judged by the poverty of his words, but by the
moral power of his life. The simplicity of his motives, the nobleness of
his temper, the purity of his conversation, his forbearance, gentleness,
catholicity, self-denial, these are the convincing signs that in his heart
are -set the pillars of God's throne. On the other hand, there may be
splendid genius, exquisite skill in debate, language the most chaste and
powerful, wit that wins a battle with a sentence, sarcasm that clears its
way with a tongue of fire, and yet there may be no grace in the heart,
the soul may not know the voice of God, the life may not respond to the
power of truth ; there will be simj^ly genius without grace — that is, a
lamp in a graveyard, or a crown on the brow of the dead !

Look at the subject in its beari/ng upon Church organizations or
individual methods of Christian service. I suppose that we cannot
altogether escape some degree of officialism in our religious life, yet it is
to be feared that societyism is not always kept within the limits of our
sjiirituality. Were the Apostle to visit us, and be shown our elaborate
machinery constructed for the evangelization of the world — were he to
spend the month of May in London, and add to his many afflictions the
burden of hearing all the papers, resolutions, and speeches with which
that loquacious month abounds — he would probably take occasion to
repeat the doctrine of the text, "The kingdom of God is with powei-."
I do not think he would care much for our speeches. The one thing
for which he would care most is the one thing for which many people care

114 TUE CITY TEMPLE.

least, namely, the Report of work done and results secured. He would
certainly look at the power rather than at the rhetoric ; and whilst the
crowds might be cheering rapturously, his heart might feel the stings of
despondency. Imagine the Apostle Paul as a member of an assembly
in Exeter Hall ! As the first speaker rose, and began to compliment
the chairman, setting forth how great honour the chainnan was con-
feriing upon the cause by his presidency, how the apostle woiild
instantly interrupt him, saying, " Sir, let us not hear such words as
these ! This is not Csesar's cause, but God's. A greater than Caesar is
here ; let all your references be to Him. No man, however gi-eat his
social position, whatsoever the name by which he is known amongst
men, can confer the slightest honour on the Christian cause. Do you,
therefore, forgetting all your references to Lord Mayors, High SheriiFs,
and other dignities, proceed to the work of expounding the true nature
of God's kingdom." What an effect would be produced by such an
interruption as this ! — and yet how just would be the inteiTuption !
The Apostle Paul would probably be pronoviuced out of order ; he
might even be conducted to the door by ungentle hands ; but even if he
were so treated, he would turn round, and exclaim again, " The kingdom
of God is not in word, but in power !" May the Church be forgiven her
many sins of speech-making ! Her word has been loud as thunder, —
but with what similitude shall we set forth her power? We cannot
have too much preaching of the right kind. Divine truth is Divine
power. Open every pulpit in the month of Church festivals, and let
the Gospel be declared in many ways, by many minds ; we cannot have
too much exposition of Divine truth, or too much enforcement of Divine
appeals ; but save us from the pious frivolity, the complimentary lying,
the courteous hypocrisy, and the ambitious ladder-climbing of a
degenerate platform !

I do not hesitate to suggest that we are in danger of setting up far
too much machinery. The Chtirch should be the one great organization ;
the Church is the missionary society, the tract society, the sick visiting
society — now and again, indeed, it may be useful to combine, and co-
operation, if genuine, will bring with it many benefits ; but in all our
relations, schemes, and enterprises, let us aim at the power, rather than
at the word. Let me be most cleai-ly understood upon this point. I
camnot arguing for the destruction of machinery, but for the exercise of

NOT IN WORD, BUT IN POWER. 115

great care, lest we be maintaining a great system of organization, when
the spirit is no longer present. We cannot fight the devil with an army
of mere Secretaries ; we cannot put him down by writing on foolscap
from one May to another. Our Secretaries must be supported by the
hearty co-operation of all who sympathise with the object which they
are appointed more particularly to represent ; our foolscap must be
written not only with ink, but, as it were, with the very blood of the
heart. Do not let us keep up any society merely foi* the sake of doing
so. If a society has exhausted itself, say so ; break it up, and go for-
Avard to new methods. We must not encumber ourselves with dead
institutions. Power must be the test of organization. Never waste
power. Never undervalue power. But when the power has gone,
do not, do not let us keep up the mocking repetition of the use-
less word. It is perfectly clear to any man who takes a sober survey
of Christendom, that there are societies that are doing a great and
mighty work — societies without which Christendom would lose much of
its glory. We cannot too zealously or liberally support such societies.
My remarks in no wise relate to them ; but I do not hesitate to pronounce
a most emphatic denunciatory sentence upon societies which have the
form only, which exist merely for the purpose of promoting selfish ends,
without attempting the extension of great principles. On this matter
Christians must judge for themselves. No man ought to feel himself at
liberty to write out a list of the societies which alone ought to be sup-
ported ; we must sit in judgment upon each particular case. All that I
insist iipon is this, that no society ought to be supported except in so
far as it really embodies and expresses the power of the Divine kingdom.
It is possible to have much organization and little spirit. It is possible
to have many officers, and yet not to be carrying the war into the camp
of the enemy. We do not want a decorated Christianity ; all that is
wanted is intelligence, sincerity, self-sacrifice, and the other signs of
Christian power with which the kingdom of God ought everaiore to be
accompanied.

Look at the subject in its relation to religious controversy, taking the
term controversy in its widest meaning. In this relation it behoves
Christian teachers to remember with special care that the kingdom of God
is not in word, but in power. For my own pai-t, I am growingly indis-
posed to a war ol words ; little, if any good comes of mere controversy.

116 THE CITY TEMPLE.

Let US, working in the spirit of Jesus Christ, give sight to the blind,
hearing to the deaf, and health to the diseased, and let these works be
oiu' answer to the challenge of the scoffer and the laughter of the fool.
Constantly we must have exposition of great piinciples, occcasionally we
must have defence, but the business of our lives is to show forth the
mighty and wonderful works of God. The weapons of our warfare are
not carnal. I care but little for mere debate. It may be well to
argue for the soundness of the voluntary principle ; it is better to erect a
sanctuary, or to do some other work which gives visible embodiment to
that principle. It may be well to answer an atheist ; it is better to
confound him by living a trustful life iu God — to say, amidst all the
discipline of life, even when it is most terrible and overwhelming,
" Though He slay me, yet will I trust iu Him." It may be of service to
contend for the inspiration of the Scriptures ; it is infinitely better to send
the Bible into all the world to speak for itself, for if it cannot vindi-
cate its own claim to inspiration by speaking livingly to the human
heart in its deepest experiences and most crying necessities, then our
little treatises upon the evidences of inspiration will do it but slejider
service. "The kingdom of God is not in word, but in power." We
have a great positive woi"k to do ; God has given us a revelation, and
we must not treat it as a theory which humau ingenuity can either
overthrow or amend. A living man is the best answer to those who rail
against Christianity. Do not let us think it necessary to defend every
point in owy faith by elaborate preparation in words. Let us go on the
Master's business, and in our Master's spirit carry light into the
places of darkness, lifting up those that have no helper, giving men to feel
that there is a Divine spirit in us ; and in doing this we shall answer all
controversy and objection by the beneficence of life, and by well-doing
we shall put to silence the ignorance of foolish men. In speaking thus
generally, I do not overlook the special controveisial gifts of exceptional
men. I should not bury such gifts. By all means let them be used.
They may render great service ; and, indeed, that they have done so
already is made clear by many proofs. I am speaking generally of the
vocation of the Church, and that is undoubtedly a call, not merely to the
argument of the letter, but to the exhibition of heavenly graces in our
common daily life. If any man in this assembly is conscious of a call
to maintain the Christian kingdom by direct controversy, and if he has

NOT IN WORD, BUT IN POWER. 117

liacl Divine seals to liis ministry, then by all means let liiin prosecute
his vocation, and may the blessing of God rest upon him. At the same
time I feel myself at liberty to say to the young, There is a great tempta-
tion to you to consume your time in the strife of words, to debate with
every objector, to give reasons and defences where older and wiser men
than yourselves have been silenced ; my advice to you is, to covet ear-
nestly the best gifts, and yet, even counting controversy amongst those
gifts, I venture to say that I can show unto you a more excellent way.
Be pure in your motives ; be simple in all your intercourse with society ;
be noble in your temper ; be magnanimous in your patience, with long-
suffering and foi'giveness of injuries ; and by these weapons you will be
able to fight a great battle for the Lord. I do not forbid inquiry into
the foundations of the faith ; I rather urge young Christian inquirers
to be able to give a reason for the faith and the hope that are
in them ; yet let them be put on their guard, lest by the craftiness
of longheaded men who care nothing for Divine proof, they be lured
fi'oni the right Avay, and be confounded by words without inquiring for
the power. Let me fui'ther say that even controversy itself is dependent
for its highest benefi.t upon the power which Christianity exercises in the
heart. You may be able to answer a man, and yet not to convince
him ; you may silence him in words, and yet leave the desire of his
heart untouched; but if you bring with you, not only skill in language,
but all that is divinely beautiful in Christian life, and all that is
persuasive in Christian temper, all that is devout and tender in human
spirit, you will be able more effectually to prosecute the great task to
which you have set yourselves.

Looking, then, at the whole subject as it has thus been briefly opened
up, let me once more say to the individual Christian, It is quite jiossible
for you to have in your heart the power of the Divine government
without your being able to set up an elaborate defence of the Christian
faith. You can feel where you cannot speak. You can impress by
nobility of action where you could never influence by skill in statement.
Do not be discouraged because you feel yourself of little service in the
matter of speaking concerning the kingdom of Jesus Christ. I do not
know but that speaking about Christ's kingdom is the lowest service
which can be rendered to it. At any rate, whatever may be said about
this, it is perfectly clear to my own mind that speech, unaccompanied by

118 THE CITY TEMPLE.

the testimony of a noble life, is an unacceptable offering to Him whom
it is professedly employed to serve.

Let me say to those who take an interest in Church organization, that
it is pei'fectly possible to have elaborate machinery and yet not to have
the spirit of the living God. Do not let us measure our Christian
progress merely by the number of societies which we support. When
we reckon up our triumphs for the Cross, do not let us speak merely of
such values and compensations as may be passable in the market-places
of the world. Let us go further, and make searching inquiry into the
moral power which We are exercising upon society. If evil men fear
the presence of the Chui-ch ; if those who curtain themselves under
darkness, that they may conceal their works of iniquity from the world,
feel that when Christian men draw near to them shafts of light are
striking their covering of gloom ; if the world be conscious that there is
within it, and yet above it, a spirit of self-sacrifice and heavenly wisdom
which it cannot account for on any ordinary principles, — then we may
be sure that we have not only the word, but the power of the Divine
kingdom of God. I would call the Church to the exercise of its fullest
might. I would not silence one man who knows how to speak the true
Avord in a true manner ; on the contrary, I would encourage all who
have the gift of eloquence to make themselves heard in the Christian
cause, always remembering that the word must come out of the heart,
and that the heart itself must feel desires, impulses, and movements,
which it is utterly impossible to reveal in the choicest human language.

To the controversialist the subject says, Remember that controversy in
nothing considered merely in itself ! What is the voice of your heart I
Do men feel that in your life there is a hidden principle which is more
than earthly 1 When you have confounded them by the brilliance of an
argument, do you also lift them up by the gentleness of your life ?
Do men fear you as a mere debater, or do they come to you as to one
who has wise words, and who will speak them with all sharpness and
emphasis, and yet with all sympathy and love? Remember, that not
everyone that saith " Lord, Lord," shall enter into the kingdom of
Heaven, but he that doeth the will of God. This is the great, this is
the final test ; whosoever doeth the will, however few and poor be his
Words, on his head shall be set the crown of life.

The sun shall teach me the meaning of this wonderful passage. The

NOT IN WORD, BUT IN POWER. 119

sun says nothing whilst doing his great work. He is silent, yet mighty ;
mighty, yet silent. There Ls no controversy proceeding between the sun
and the sfcirs as to the meaning of summer. The sun is not giving
pictures of what summer is or of what summer might be made ; he is
not disputing with the other worlds which of them can make the most
beautiful summer ; there is no war of words in the chambers of the
stars ; the sun jjours down his blessings on the earth, covers the world
with manifold beauty, and having caused the summer to pour all its
riches upon the face of the earth, he leaves men to form their own con-
clusions as to his might. I would be, in my measure, as is the sun. We
can do much, though we say but little. It ought to be with us a question
of intense and penetrating light, and not a question of debate and con-
troversy or contention for eminence. As the sun is always working,
always blessing the earth with an abundance of light, so should we, in
our Christian lives, be endeavouring to bring day and beauty and fruit-
fulness into the society in which we move. Let your light so shine
before men, that they, seeing your good works , may glorify your Father
which is in heaven.

CitjT Cempic "^ottn.

1. There is one most Christlike work to which I wish to devote myself with
constant zeal, and that is the recovery offalltn men. I am pained inexpressibly by
much that I see in the so-called discipline of churches. A man, a minister, per-
haps, falls, what then ? He is given over to social damnation — turned out, and
hardly a man in all the church has enough of Christ's spirit to go after him, and
show him the way back again. So many of us are only moral enough to be able to
criticise the morality of other people. It is right to exclude, but is the excluded
man never to be sought for, and to be recovered, if possible, to his lost position 'i
How few of us dare o))enly identify ourselves with the fallen man, and boldly say
that we do so for CIiriM's sake, and in Chrisfs sjnrit ! From all fallen men I must
insist \ipon the fullest and most penitent confession of sin; there must not be the
faintest attempt at self -justification — there must be abasement, sorrow, poignant
self-reproach — there must also be the most painstaking endeavour in the direction
of restitution, where restitution is possible ; and where those indispensable con-
ditions are forthcoming, I would work for the sorrowing sinner with joy and thank-
fulness. If this note should come under the attention of any man who has lost
Christian status, I beseech him to own his sin, and to stand before the world as a
penitent; no excuses, or recriminations, can be tolerated, in reference to sin:
say you have sinned ; tell the black tale, however revolting it may be ; force your-
self to tell the whole story of your shame ; and if you bring forth fruits meet for
repentance, God himself will go before you, and all your way shall be made plain.
Self-vindicatioii excludes all help. Where a man says that he has been unjustly
accused, he takes his case into his own hands ; but where he says, I have sinned,
I have dishonoured the Saviour's name, I pray God and society to forgive me and
restore me, he puts himself within the conditions which make salvation possible.

2. As it is hardly possible to answer all the letters of advice, encouragement,
and thankfulness, which friends send almost daily, it may serve a good object if
we assure correspondents that their letters are carefully read, and much appreciated.
All ancmymous letters, however, are instantly put into the fire ; it Js, therefore,
a pity for any one who has a true word to say, to waste time, paper, and postage,
over statements which are never read. Many a time we have put " A Well-
wisher" into the fire, and seen " A Constant Hearer" perish in ashes. All who
give their names and addresses may be assured of most respectful attention — aU
others may be sure of the instant destruction of their most careful compositions.
Special thanks are due to one friend in Leeds, who tells us that he has obtained
something like sixty subscribers to the City Temple. He is a truly wise ally,
having ordered the copies oifoiir different booksellers, so as to spread an interest
in the publication. Love has a happy knack of doing things in the best way.
Such a helper in every town would soon turn the City Temple into a National
banctuo.ry,

3. We have been urged to attempt something in the way of organizing and
educating lay agents. We like the idea very much, and are disposed to look at it
practically. If a hundred occasional preachers woidd read and think according to
a plan which coidd easily be devised, very important results would be secured in
course of time. We now invite correspondence on the matter. No man need
write who is unwilling to submit to hard drill. We do not contemplate anything
in the way of intellectual amusement — our watchword is discipline.

Report of a Service conducted by

JOSEPH PAEKER,

In the Poultry Chapel, on Thursday Morning, November 25th, 1869.

After singing the hymn commencing "When I can read my title clear,"
the following passages of Scripture were repeated : —

' ' He that hath ears to hear let him hear. "

"Is not this great Babylon that I have built for the house of my kingdom
by the, might of my power, and for the honour of my majesty ?"

"Their inward thought is that their houses shall continue for ever, and their
dwelling places to all generations ; they call their lands after their own names."

"He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh; the Lord shall have them in
derision."

Great God, save ns from the laughter of Thy scorning ! Who can
stand before Thy derision 1 When Thou dost pour contempt upon the
children of men, the works of their hands fade away ; the great towers
which they build crumble into dust, and they themselves have no desire
but to be laid in the grave. We have sought to do without Thee in the
building of our life and our fortune, and lo ! we have been baffled and
defied by unseen ministrants of Thine. Thy works have smitten us
with shame, and our hearts have been filled with self-contempt. Teach
us that Thou hast laid the only foundation on which man can safely
build ; say to us again and again in our folly, " Other foundation can

11

z22 THE CITY TEMPLE.

no man lay." Teach us to build thereon as those that must give an
account, knowing that our work shall be tried by the floods and the fires
of Thy jiidgment. Help us to work from the Cross of the Saviour as
from the one true centre ; and encourage \is to believe that Thou wilt
not cast us off whilst we ai-e faithful to the spirit of Thy law. If
any man before Thee is building upon his own foundation, teach him
that his work shall be overthrown ; and if any persons be discouraged
from building upon the right foundation, do Thou give them strength by
Thy Holy Spirit. Help us to listen with all attention. May our
hearts be alive to Thy Word ; may our soul cry out to the living God ; and
may the experience of Thy people be sweet and joyful even to luxury and
triumph, that they, knowing that Thou art with them, may build on
until the time of putting on the top-stone. Destroy all disposition to
build earthly resting-places ; help us to feel that this is not our rest,
and that only mansions of Thine own building are worthy of our
renewed and sanctified nature. Keep us from godless self-reliance.
Teach us that our own power is utter weakness. Save us from self-
idolatry, and from the vain imaginings of self-sixfiicient conceit. Plague
lis and smite us until we cease the service of the devil, and give us
sweet enjoyment of Thy presence in all the endeavours we make after
higher life. God bless us, pity our littlenesses, and visit us in all the
fulness and tenderness of His ])ai-doning love ! So great a prayer we
dare breathe in the name of the Omnipotent and Gracious Saviour.
Amen

ON THE BUILDING OF BABEL.

I WISH to dwell upon some features of our practical life whicli seem to
receive vivid illustration from tlie account which is given in the opening
of the eleventh chapter of the Book of Genesis of the building of the
city and tower of Babel. Comparing that account with our own method
of life and art, it is clear that from the beginning of time men have been
doing pretty much the same thing all the world over. The world's
story is but short ; it is very much like a series of repetitions : the
actors, indeed, have been innumerable, but the drama has always been
contracted, and seldom profound. The actors have made noise enough,
but when there has been a little break through the dust, we have
observed that they have not always made equal progress. We have a
short Bible, because we have a short life. We have a fragmentary Bible,
because we have a fragmentary human story. We have a Bible that
apparently contradicts itself, because we have a life full of discrepancies
— because part of us is Divine and part of us earthly — because we have
many chipped links, many unmatched and unmatchable patterns, which
no skill can put into anything like decent unity. The world, too, is but
a little world. Men jump together again and again as if they could
not escape one another's presence, and as for thinking, stril'e of mind,
intellectual projections and conceptions, originalities thei'e are none ;
variations many, but no originalities. We are still in the land of
Shinar, plotting with one another, burning bricks, building cities and
towers, and being thrown from depth to depth of confusion. We are
shut up in a very small prison, and can see but little through the narrow
grating of our separate cells. What can we do, then 1 What is our
calling ] It is to try to alter the moral tone of our work ; we must
burn bricks, build cities, and erect towers in the right spirit ; and we
must try to get to heaven, not as the builders of Babel did. If we get
to heaven at all, it will never be through the dark and ricketty staircases

124 THE CITY TEMPLE.

of our own invention. Let us, then, read the story of Babel together,
and gather from it what we may.

" And the whole earth was of one language, and of one speech."

Unanimity is nothing, considered sti-ictly in itself. It is of no value
that we say, in excuse of this or that deed, " It was done unanimously."
Men may do wrong things unanimov^sly, as well as things that are
right. We must distinguish between union and conspiracy ; we must
distinguish between identity and mei'e association for a given object.
Twelve directors may be of one language and of one speech, but the
meaning of their unity may be self-enrichment, at the expense of un-
suspecting men, who have put their little all into their keeping and
direction. It is nothing, therefore, to talk about unanimity in itself
considered. We must,, in all these things, put the moral question,
" What is the unanimity about 1" — " Is this unanimity moving in the
right dii'ection ? " If it be in a wrong direction, then unanimity is an
aggravation of sin ; if it be in a right direction, then union is power,
and one-heartedness is triumph. But it is possible that unanimity may
be but another word for stagnation. There are words in our language
which are greatly misunderstood — and unanimity is one of them ; peace
is another. When many persons say peace, what do they mean '? A
living, intelligent, active co-operation, where there is mutual concession,
where there is courtesy on every hand, where there is independent con-
viction, and yet noble concert in life 1 Not at all. They say that a
church is unanimous, and a church is at peace, when a correct inter-
preter would say it was the unanimity of the grave, the peace of death !
So I put in a word here of caution and of explanation : " The whole
earth was of one language, and of one speech ;" here is a point of
unanimity, and yet there is a unanimous movement in a wrong direction.

"And they said one to another, go to, let us make brick, and burn them
thoroughly ; . . . . and they said, Go to, let us build us a city and a tower,
whose top may reach unto heaven."

There are times in life when lucky ideas strike men ; when there is
a kind of intellectual spring-tide in the nature, when men rise and .say,
" I have got it ! go to, this is it ! " And in the bright hours when such
ideas strike one, the temptation is to be a little contemptuous in reference
to dull men who are never visited by conceptions, so bright and original
as we deem them. A man has been in great perplexity, month after
month, and suddenly he says, " Go to, the solution is now before me,
I see my way I'ight out of this dark place ;" and he heightens his tone,
as the joy swells in his heart. That is right. We could not do without
intellectual birthdays; we could not always be carrying about a dead leaden

ox THE BUILDING OF BABEL, 125

bi'ain, that never sees liglit or shouts victory. We like these moments of
iusjtiration to break in ujjon the dull monotony of such a lifetime as ours.
So it is perfectly right that men should express their new conceptions —
their new programme — and lay out a bold policy in a clear and confident
tone. Bat are all our ideas so very bright 1 When we see our way to
brickmaking, is it always in the right direction 1 When we set our
mind upon founding a city and building a tower the top of which shall
rest against the stars, is it right 1 You see that question of " right "
comes in again and again, and in proportion as a man wishes to live a
true Divine life he will always say, before going to his brickmaking and
his city-founding and his tower-building, " Now, is this right .?" Many
of us could have built great towers, only we knew we should be building
downwards if we had set our hands to such work as has often tempted
lis. Do not let ns look coldly upon apparently unsuccessful men, and
say. Look at us ; we have built a great city and tower, and you, where are
3'ou'? — sti'etching in the dust and grovelling in nothing." They could
have built quite as large a tower as ours ; they could have been quite as
far up in the clouds as we are, only we had perhaps less conscience than
they had. When we saw a way to burning bricks, we hurned theui ; and
a way to establishing towers, we founded them ; and they, poor creatures,
unsuccessful men, began to /^ray about it and to wonder if it was right,
and to ask casuistical questions, and to rack themselves upon conscience ;
and so they have done no building ! And yet they vuiy have built.
Who can tell ? All buildings are not made of brick ; all men do not
require to lay out brickfields, and burn clay, in order to build. It may
be found one day, when the final inspection takes place, that the man
who has built nothing visible has really built a palace for the residence
of God. It may be found, too, that some successful people have nothing
but bricks — nothing but bricks, bricks, bricks ! Then it will be seen
who the true builders are. What I pause here to say is this : We may
have Vjright ideas, we may have (to us) new conceptions ; there are, to
our thinking, original ways of doing things ; now and again cunning
plans of overcoming difficulties strike us. Do I condemn this intellec-
tual activity ? No ; I simply say. Let your intellect and your conscience
go together ; do not be onesided men ; do not be living altogether out of
the head, be living out of your moral nature as well ; and if it be right,
then build the tower with all industx'y and determination. Let it be strong
and lofty, and God shall come down upon your woi'k and glorify it, and
claim it as His own.

" A tower whose top may reach even unto heaven."

Bold men, — men of vigorous mind, striking out something that is very

126 THE CITT TEMPLE.

definite, and about which there could be no mistake. We, too, are
doing just what they did ; we are following the god Ambition — the
restless god, Ambition, who never sleeps, never pauses, never gives his
devotees vacation, but is always stirring them up to more and more
furious desires. Do I condemn ambition 1 — nothing of the kind. I
praise ambition ; I say to every young man who may to-day accept me
as his teacher, Be ambitious ; build loftily ; let your aspirations be con-
fined only by the limits which God himself has set to humaii power and
human capability ; but, — 6%^,— -that old question comes in again. Is it
right 1 Is it right ? Our ambitions may be our temptations ; our
ambitions may be stumbling-blocks over which we fall into outer
darkness ; our ambitions may be the cups out of which we drink
some deadly intoxicant, poisoning the mind and destroying the heart's
life. Therefore, I pause again to ask. Is it right ? Then, too, we
pronounce some men ambitious, who are really not ambitious. All
men do not understand the word ambition — ambition has been vul-
garized, taken out altogether from its refined and beautiful asso-
ciations, and debased into something that is intensely of the earth,
earthy. I call men to intellectual ambition, to spiritual ambition ; to
the ambition that says, " I count not myself to have attained ; this one
thing I do I press." Alas ! there ai"e ten thousand men in our city
streets to-day who are "pressing;" but the question is, "Towards what
do they press ] " The apostle says, " I press towards the mark for the
prize of my high calling of God in Christ Jesus." That is better than
saying, " Let us build a tower whose top shall reach even unto heaven ;"
and yet it is true tower-building — it is palace-building. Men who look
at things only by their senses, who value things only according to their
market prices, may say, " These are castles in the air ;" but I have a
strong conviction that these castles in the air are in many cases the only
true and enduring castles. We cannot see them, but what do we see
anywhere but the shell of things, or the little pedestal — the great uni-
verse is beyond the veil ; the great splendours are hidden from us ; the
great realities are things not seen. Do not let us, then, look from our
lofty scaffolding down ujDon praying people , and thinking people, and
spiritual people, and say they are not building. Our scaffolding is a long
way up. Take care lest the winds catch it and spare not ! Take care
lest our elevation become our destruction !

' ' And the Lord came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of
men builded."

You believe in inspection, do you not ] You say that inspection is
of little worth except it be conducted by competent power and with

ON THE BUILDING OF BABEL. 127

strict impartiality of spii'it ; and you are right in so thinking. In the
case before us, Almighty God himself came down to see what the
children of men were doing, and when He comes down (a phrase which
is used to accommodate Himself to our methods of expression), nothing
can escape the penetration of His eye. He looks at our day-books,
ledgers, and other memorandum books, to see how we are building the
tower of our life ; He visits our country residences and palatial buildings
for the purpose of trying their foundations ; He looks into all the
building of our fortune, that He may see whether our gains have been
honestly secured. Terrible is the day for the bad man on which
Almighty God lays His great hand — the hand in which the winds are
hidden, the great palm in which all the stars of the heaven are gathered
— upon the tower which is being built ; He will shake it, and, if the
foundation is bad, the whole superstructure will be thrown down to the
dust ! In passing through our city streets I observe that the windows
of many mercantile houses are left without defence, except huge iron
bars ; and it is easy to see that merchantmen have left their letters and
papers ujjon their desks that they might return to them on the following
day and continue their business. Their places are vacant and silent, yet
there is in them nothing less than the pi-eseuce of God himself ; and the
Eye -oi Omniscience is passing over page after page and book after book,
and God is noting the whole process and tendency of men's lives. When
men build their towers under the conviction that every stone of them
will be tried by Divine power — when they build their cities, and erect
their towers, and extend their properties, under the assurance that not
one thing of all the things that their hands are doing will escape the
test of God's Spirit — we may expect life to be built iipon a true founda-
tion, and according to a righteous plan. What we have to ponder is this
most certain fact, that God will come down to see our work, and that
there is no possibility of concealing from Him any incorrectness of plan
or any deficiency of service. For many a long day we may imagine
ourselves secure from the supervision of Omnipotence ; but such
imagination is an utter mistake, for there is nothing in our life that is
not naked and open to the eyes of Him with whom we have to do. Our
little works and our great works alike ought to be conducted with an
eye to Divine judgment. The work that is internal, as well as the work
that is external, should be conducted with that holy desire to do what
is right, which alone is the guarantee that we are not living atheistic
lives.

" Now nothing will be restrained from them which they have imagined to do.'

Here we are brought face to face with the great question of the

128 THE CITY TEMPLE.

discipline of human imagination. Life that is lived entirely in the
imagination is lived wastefully. We are not to condemn imagination,
for most truly imagination is a Divine gift ; but it is a gift which is
seldom, if ever, to be exercised alone. Our imagination must take
counsel of our judgment, and our judgment must act in co-opei-ation with
our heart, so that there may be unanimity in all our faculties in carrying
out the great projects of life. It is a terrible thing for any man to be
given over to the unrestrained dominion of his fancy. Our imagination
becomes intoxicated, and we are the victims of dreamings which may
lead us into the wildest excesses, causing us to overlook all social claims
and all Divine obligations, and to work only for our own aggrandisement
and strength. Imagination never thinks ; it only dreams. Imagination
never reasons ; it flies away, not knowing whither it is going. Imagi-
nation is never sober ; it is always intoxicated with burning desire. I
might challenge some of you to-day, to tell me whether you are not
living lives of riotous imagination ; dreaming of new plans of securing
wealth, of novel projects for the defrauding of unsuspecting men, and
whether in this awful excitement yovi are not forgetting the common
duties of life. Men cannot always live upon the wings of their imagi-
nation ; they must stand still, jjause, tliink, reason, pray, and then, if
their imagination can assist them to overcome difficulties, they are
at liberty to follow all the will of their fancy. Let us take our starting-
point from simple truth ; let us hold deep and solenm consultation with
the Spirit of Righteousness ; let us know that our greatest power
is little more than weakness ; and then we shall walk without stumbling ;
and though our tower be not built veiy loftily, it will be built with
a stability which God himself will never allow to be shaken.

"Go to, let lis go down and there confound their language, that they may not
understand one another's speech."

This brings before us a hint of the unknown resources of God, in the
matter of punishing those who disobey His will. Who could have
thought of this method of scattering the builders of the city 1 God does
not send a fire upon the builders ; no terrible plague poisons the air ; yet
in an instant each workman is at a loss to understand the other, and
each considers all the others as but raving maniacs ! Imagine the
bewildering and painful scene ! Men who have been working by each
other's side, days and weeks, are instantly conscious of inability to under-
stand one another's speech ! 'New sounds, new accents, new words, but
not a ray of intelligence in all ! " It is a fearful thing to fall into the
hand of the living God." God has innumerable ways of showing His

ox THE BUILDING OF BABEL. 129

displeasure of human folly and hiiiuan crime. A man may be pursuing
a course of prosperity, in which he is ignoring all that is moral and
Divine, and men may be regarding him as the very model of success, yet
in an instant Almighty God may blow upon his brain, and the un-
successful man may sit down in a defeat which can never be reversed.
God is not confined to one method of punishment. He touches a man's
bones, and they melt ; He breathes upon a man's brain, and henceforth
he is not able to think. He comes in at night-time, and shakes the
foundations of man's most trusted towers, and in the morning there is
nought but a heap of ruins. He disorganises men's memories, and in an
instant they confuse all the recollections of their lifetime. He touches
man's tongue, and the fluent speaker becomes a stammerer. He breaks
the staff in twain, and he who was relying upon it is thrown down in
utter helplessness. We know but little of what God means when He
says, " Heaven ;" that word gives us but a dim hint of the infinite light
and blessedness and triumph which are in reserve for the good. We have
but a poor conception of what God means when He says, " Hell ;" that
word is but a flickering spark compared with the infinite distress, the
endless ruin and torment which must befall every man who defies his
Maker.

Speaking of this confusion of language, may I not be permitted
to inquire whether even in our own English tongue there is not to-day
very serious confusion 1 Do men really mean words to be accepted in
their plain common-sense 1 Does not the acute man often tell his
untrained client what he intends to do in language which has double
meanings 1 Do we not sometimes utter the words that have one meaning
to the world and another meaning to our own hearts 1 Yea does not
always mean yea, nor does nay always mean nay ; men sign papers
with mental reservations ; men utter words in their common meaning,
and to themselves they interpret these words with secret significations.
The same words do not mean the same thing under all circumstances,
and as spoken by different speakers. When a poor man says " rich,"
he means one thing; when a millionaire says "rich," he means some-
thing very different. Let us consider that there is morality even in
the use of language. Let no man consider liimself at liberty to trifle
with the meaning of words. Language is the medium of intercourse
between man and man, and on the interpretation of words great results
depend. It behoves us, therefore, who profess to ba followers of Jesus
Christ, so to speak as to leave ourselves without the painful reflection
of having taken refuge in ambiguous ex{)ressions for the sake of saving
ourselves from unpleasant results. It will be a sign that God is really
with us as a nation, when a pure language is restored unto us- — when

130 TUE CITY TEMPLE.

man can trust the word of man, and depend with entire confidence
upon the honour of his neighbour.

What shall we carry away from this meditation 1 Man must work,
but he may work in a wrong spirit and with a wrong intent. We may
do the right thing in a wrong way. What we have to beware of is
atheistic building ! " He builds too low who builds beneath the skies."
There is one message which I have to deliver to all who hear me this
day, namely. We have not to lay the foundation. " Other foundation
can no man lay than that which is laid, Jesus Christ himself being the
chief coi'ner-stone." The word of warning to every man is this, " Let
every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon." A building may be
noble in design, ample in magnitude, commodious and convenient in all
its appointments, but the one great question relates to the foundation !
Of what value is it that we build loftily and broadly, with an eye to all
that is beautiful in proportion and satisfactory in arrangement, if all the
while we be building upon the sand 1 The fires will come, or the floods
will descend, or the great winds will conspire to try our work, and
though our work itself suffer loss, we shall be saved if we be resting
upon a right foundation which God himself has laid. I have spoken
this morning of ambition. I have not dissuaded young men from being
ambitious ; I have rather sought to stimulate them to greater desires and
more comprehensive plans. At the same time, I wish to caution them
against ambition that is atheistic. You hear of men being the architects
of their own fortunes ; and there is a sense in which that expression con-
veys sentiments that are truly laudable. I wish, however, to alter the
phraseology ; henceforth let us consider God as the Architect of our
fortunes, and ourselves but the builders working under His direction.
Do not let us seek to be both architect and builder. " In all thy ways
acknowledge God, and He will direct thy paths." We shall never be
relieved from the discipline of work ; the great trials of service will con-
stantly be allotted to us ; the one thing to be assured of is, that we are
moving along the designs which God himself has set before us, and then,
bow stormy soever may be the days in which we laboui-, and how many
soever the difiiculties with which we have to contend, the building shall
.surely be completed, even to the putting on of the top-stone.

Do I speak this morning to any poor, crushed man, whose tower during
recent commercial panics has been thrown down to the dust 1 But a
short time ago you had a good social position, you lived in comfort, if not
in luxury, your name was a watchword of confidence among men of
honour ; but to-day you are surrounded by the ruins of your fortune, and
your children are almost reduced to beggary. Let us speak about such
matters with all tenderness, yet without shrinking from the moral

ON THE BUILDING OF BABEL. 131

aspects of life. How was your tower built 1 Did you build it atheisti-
cally 1 Did you live entirely in the realm of your imagination, losing
all self-restraint, and plunging into the most riotous excesses of specula-
tion ] If so, the explanation of the throwing down of your tower is not
far to seek. On the other hand, if you were building honestly, and have
been victimised by evil-minded men, it will one day be shown to you
that the destx-uction of your tower has been ordered by Almighty God,
and so sanctified as to bring into your heart a stronger faith, a tenderer
love, and a more enduring patience. Do not say that all is lost simply
because all is thrown down. The foundation abideth for ever ; continue
to build upon that, and be assured of the final reward. I do not know
but that panics are sent of God himself, often directly, for the chasten-
ing and purification of man. Uninterrupted prosperity might prove
itself to be the direst affliction which could befall society. Do we know
what plagues might be engendered by the continuous shining of a
cloudless sun 1 The high winds which try men's buildings, and often
throw them down, are sent for the cleansing of the atmosphere.

Do I speak this morning to any who have but little standing-place in
the world, — to men who have never built a city or a tower 1 Let me
say to such, " In my Father's house are many mansions " ! We ourselves
may not; have built anything that deserves the name of a city or a tower,
but Jesus Christ has gone away to prepare a place for us, and we who
to-day are the children of want, having hardly where to lay our head,
shall be called into a city of glory. The poor Christian has no reason
to be discoui-aged so far as the great futui-e is concerned ; to-day there
is little about him that men may call attractive ; to-day he is the child
of want, but in so much as he is in Jesus Chi-ist he holds a title to an
inheritance incorruptible, undefiled, and that fadeth not away.

Let us now go out again into the world from this place in which we
have sat hearing the word of the Lord ; let us resume our building, and
in doing so let us invoke the presence and the guidance of Infinite
"Wisdom through all the pi'ocesses of our life. Our business is not to
build quickly, but to build iipon a right foundation and in a right spirit.
Life is more than a mere competition as between man and man ; it is
not who can be done first, but who can work best ; it is not who can
rise highest in the shortest time, but who is working most patiently and
lovingly in accoi-dance with the designs of God.

Citg Ccmpk '§.Qk$.

1. The Publishers inform us that the City Temjyle is selling at the rate of four
thousand copies weekly. We are much encouraged by this gratifying sale,
inasmuch as it enables us to address a very large congregation. Certainly it
imposes upon us the responsibility of endeavouring to improve the City Temjile. as
much as possible, — still, as this circulation has been secured by an abrupt and
unfinished style, it is not intended to take away this characteristic by arriving at
anything like polished composition. We thank our friends most heartily, and ask
them to cheer us still further by doubling our constituency. To-day, Thursday,
Nov. 25, we have had the intense joy of addressing a noble throng of attentive
hearers, and we cannot but hope that deep impressions have been made on many
hearts. May the Almighty Spirit, True and Holy, the Unseen but All-seeing Ghost,
carry on his work increasingly in our midst ! Let all our readers say, Amen !
The following extract from a note by a clergyman of the Estabhshed Church, will
show that the spirit of Christian brotherhood is not extinct: — " I feel constrained
to send you a line to thank you for your refreshing and edifying discourse of this
morning, and to assure you of the prayers of a brother in the Lord for a rich
blessing to rest upon your labours in the heart of our great metropolis. The large
attendance — at such an hour in the day — delighted my heart ; may as many be
induced to attend on each occasion ! "

2. The want of many men is a want of common sense. We are repeatedly asked
to preach from home on Sundays. Just beginning a new ministerial era, called to
a position of no ordinary difficulty, we are respectfully requested to go a hundred
miles into the country to preach Charity Sermons ! At the risk of appearing to
depreciate the honour, we must say that the unreasonableness of the request,
considering the speciality of the circumstances, is to us quite inexplicable. Had
we been here fifteen or twenty years, the case would have been altogether different ;
or had we been in a flourishing suburb where it is beyond the power of man to
keep a chapel empty, we should gladly have helped in as many directions as
possible, — but being in Cheapside, in a supposed grave, almost next door to
churches which are "like banquet halls deserted," we feel that (under the Divine
blessing) much depends upon unbroken constancy of service, and that interruption
would be ruin. We say this in all frankness, to save loriting letters in reply to
invitations which cannot be accepted.

Clje Citji Cnii|jlc.

Report of a Service conducted by

JOSEPH PAEKEE,

Iif THE Poultry Chapel, on Thursday Morning, December 2nd, 1869.

After singing a liymn, tlie following passages of Scriptui'e were
repeated : —

" All we, like sheep, have gone astray."

"I have goue astray like a lost sheep : seek tby servant."

"There is none righteous, no, not one ; there is none that understandeth, there
is none that seeketh after God. They are all gone out of the way, they are all
together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one."

" We ourselves also were sometime foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving divers
lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful and hating one another."

" We are by nature the children of wrath, even as others."

" Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again."

CIj£ fraan-,

Almighty God, do Thou renew us with Thine own image. We shall
be satisfied when we awake with Thy likeness. We have lost the
lineaments of Tliy beauty and purity ; we have become disorganized
and deformed, and ruined, and there is no help for us but in the mighty
arm of the loving God, and in the infinite grace of His Son. We bless
Thee in so far as we have known the mystery of the new birth in our
own experience. We rejoice that though we cannot explain Thy processes

12

134 THE CITY TEMPLE.

upon our mind and upon our heart, yet are we conscious of new and
pure desires, stretching up towards the heaven, and crying out for the
living God. Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but
according to Thy mercy hast Thou saved us, by the washing of regener-
ation, and the renewing of the Holy Ghost. We are born, not of
corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, even by the word of the God
which liveth and abideth for ever. Help us, now that we are born into
Thy kingdom, to grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and
Saviour Jesus Christ. In malice may we ever be children, in imder-
standing may we be men. By the wonderful discipline of Thy providence,
by sorrows and joys intermingled with infinite wisdom, by the disap-
pointment of our hope, and the realization of our desires, by all the
contradictions which make u]) this strange human lot, do Thou train
us until we become perfect men in Christ Jesus our Lord. Deliver
us from the bondage of our evil lusts ; destroy within us the dominion
of the Evil One, and set up Thy kingdom in our hearts, and reign
Thou in undivided and perpetual empire. Let the Holy Ghost to-day
be our life, and light, and joy ; qviicken our spiritual discernment that
we may see things that are not seen ; so excite our highest sensibilities
as to enable us to respond with instant and grateful love to all the
appeals of Thy truth. Thou alone canst renew human life and establish
it in everlasting blessedness. Truly, Thou workest in mystery, yet are
the results of Thy woi-k beautiful and noble exceedingly. Thou hidest
Thyself in the chambers of our heart, so that none can see Thee, and
yet we know that Thou art there by the flooding love which overflows
our being, by the heavenward desires which stir our natux'e with blessed
imrest, and by the lofty power with which we are enabled to do all the
common work of life. Abide with us ! When Thou goest, our light is
put out ; when Thou retui-nest, no shadow can be found upon us. In
the light of Thy mercy we see all our giiilt ; in the sweetness of Thy
love we feel the bitterness of our sin. Abide with us ! By Thy word
we see the folly of our own wisdom ; by thy Holy Spirit we know the
wickedness of the devil. Abide with us ! Where our sin abounds let
Thy grace much more abound. Shame us by the incessancy of Thy
love, rather than destroy us by Thy great power. O Loving One, patient,
tender-, abide with us ! And to God who made us, and to God who
redeemed us with an infinite price, to the Holy Ghost, the God who
sanctifieth us, be the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, world
without end. Amen.

Cbc

Strm0it,

ON HUMAN REGENERATION.

" How can a man be born again when he is old ? " — JoH>f iii. 4.

NicODEMUS did not deny tlie doctrine of the Second Birth, he
uiei-ely started a difficulty. Though a master in Israel, he was appa-
rently destitute of that spiritual insight which sees the possibility of
the very stones being raised up as children vinto Abraham — that
sensitive and hopeful ideality which sees everywhere the throbbings of
an inner life, and believes instantly in every word which even remotely
hints at iraniortality. Nicodemus was a literalist ; his ideas were
cramped by the fixed meanings of words ; he never could have written
the Apocalypse ; seal and trumpet and vial were not for such men as
Nicodemus. He was startled by the word " born " ; probably he
doubted its exactness ; it was, in his estimation, too specific in its
common meaning, to be literally applied to anything else ; consequently
he took his stand upon nature, and judged as if there were but one way
by which life could come into the world. He who had been convinced
by the miracle was astounded by the metaphor. What if there were no
metajihors 1 What if pillars never became arches 1 AVhat if dogma
never coloured and brightened into parable? The answer of Jesus
Christ was strikingly consistent with his whole method of teaching ;
the strangeness of his language excited attention, jirovoked thought,
sometimes awakened controversy, and so through a process of troubled
inquii-y and anxious strife, men often entered into the mystery of
Christ's rest. It is a hard way ; but the men who travel it come into
great strength. Simon Peter asked no questions at first, but Simon
Peter denied his Master at last. Paul began with enmity, and ended
with most passionate and rapturous love ; Nicodemus expressed a
wonder, almost dark enough to be a doubt, but in the long run he took
his stand by the dead body of " the Teacher come from God." It seems
as if every man must at some time in his religious life have doubts and
even anguish of heart, respecting Jesus Christ and His kingdom ; and as

136 THE CITV TEMPLK.

if some men particularly, of whom Simon Peter may be taken as a
notable examjjle, must be utterly dashed to pieces before God can begin
His constructive work upon them. Nicodemus had been an attentive
observer of the public life of Jesus Christ. He was one of those
persons who always ground their course upon facts ; they never
throw themselves completely upon great princijjles, or risk them-
selves upon the supposed strength of an argument ; they only believe
history, they never make it. The facts which Nicodemus had observed
led to reasoning, and the reason was expressed in this conclusion :
" Rabbi, we know that tliou art a teacher come from God : for no man
can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him." The
admission is one of the utmost spiritual importance, because if the works
are from God, what of the loords 1 Can the same fountain send forth
sweet waters and bitter ? Can the worker have found his way to the
Omnipotent except through the Omniscient % Yet, important as the
admission was, Jesus Christ i-eturned an answer, which apparently had
no bearing upon the subject of miracles — "Jesus answered, and said
unto him. Verily, verily I say unto thee, except a man be born again he
cannot see the kingdom of God." The subject which Nicodemus intro-
duced was iniracles, the subject which Jesus Christ introduced was
o-egeneration. Did Jesus Christ, then, evade the question of miracles'?
No ; He incidently showed the true position and value of the mighty
works as elements in His ministry ; they were hardly to be mentioned ;
they lay somewhat remote from His great scheme; they were symbolic,
and illustrative of one great miracle ; they all pointed towai'ds the final
triumph of His power, namely, the second birth of creatures who had
dishonoured their first estate.

When men are not sure of their ground they make sudden deflections,
and raise side issues, so as to escape a perilous topic. Read superficially,
Jesus Christ's remai'k about the new birth looks like the stratagem of
a skilful controversialist, but looked at more carefully, we may find it
to be strictly in the line of the original subject. Earnest men often
avail themselves of ellipsis. They are impatient of mei-e detail. They
are straightened until their woi'k be accomplished. Jesus did not evade
the subject of mii-acles ; He merely passed the intermediate poii^ts, and
went at once to the spiritual results which the great works of His hands
were meant to prefigure and elucidate. Not only so ; He taught that
unless every man himself became the subject of a miracle, the miracle
of regenei-ation, his belief in other miracles would not admit him into
the kingdom of heaven; other miracles were to be looked at, this was
to be felt ; other miracles were public, this was intensely personal ;
othei' miracles were niaterial, this was moral ; other miracles give new

ON HUMAN REGENERATION. 137

views, this gives new life. This miracle of regeneration is the only
explanation of all other miracles ; and until a man has undergone its
power, the other miracles may possibly be stumbling-blocks to his reason
- — except a man be born again he cannot see ; cannot see anything as
it really is ; specially cannot see the kingdom of God.

This call from outward circumstances to the deepest experiences which
the soul can undergo, not unnaturally siiggested the question, " How can
these things be 1" And the answer does not attempt to clear itself of
the original mystery — " The wind blowetli where it listeth, and thou
hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh nor whither
it goeth : so is every one that is born of the Spirit." The meaning of
the answer would seem to be that we are not to deny results simply
because we cannot understand processes : we may see a renewed life, but
cannot see the renewing Spirit ; we may gather the fruits of autumn,
though we may not know by what cixnning the leaf was woven, nor can
we follow the skill that set the blossom in its place. Jesus Christ thus
gives Nature &\\ illustrative function ; all its beauty, its splendour, its
force, is to teach something beyond itself; there is a voice in the wind
other than strikes the heai'ing of the body ; beyond the common
fragrance of the flowers there is an odour which reaches the soul ; the
glitter of. starlight comes from a fire, veiled from all eyes. Jesus Christ
thus foimd a common law in Nature and i)i grace ; the Spirit is the
same whether it direct the course of the wind or renew the springs of
the heart. — the earth to the spiritual mind is but a lower heaven. This
method of reasoning from the physical to the spiritual gives great
interest to life and nature ; it is not meant that we should force
meanings from the things which are round about us, but we are cer-
tainly taught that there is congruity between the woi'ks of God, and
that the limitation of our earthly knowledge should teach us modesty
respecting the things which are heavenly. Look at the words, " Thou
hearest .... but canst not tell." Man occupies an outside position ;
even in common things, God fixes a tabernacle of His own ; He will not
tell man the whole of his secret ; He brings man to his appointed stature,
and then says that man cannot, even by taking thought, add one cubit
to it ; He counts the hairs upon the heads of His saints, and tells them
that they cannot make one hair white or black ; He says to the Master
of Israel, " Thou hearest the wind, but canst not tell whence it cometh
or whither it goeth." As a mere matter of fact, then, apart from
theological incpiiries, there are limitations to human knowledge. Man
does not even understand himself ; on every side he touches immediately
the boundary of his infoi'mation and his power ; the atom bafiles him ;
the insect is only half couiprehended : the sea sounds like a great

138 THE CITY TEMPLE.

mockery ; the dwelling-place of the light is yet undiscovered, and as for
dai'kness, no man knoweth its habitation ; the wise man knows only his
folly ; he cannot tell by what way the light is pai-ted which scattereth
the east wind upon the earth ; he knows not whether the rain had a
father, or who hath begotten the drops of dew ; he cannot tell out of
whose womb came the ice, or who gendered the hoar frost of heaven ;
Mazzaroth, Arcturus, Pleiades, and Orion pay no heed to his voice ; he
heareth the sound of the wind, but cannot tell whence it cometh or
whither it goeth !

These considerations show the spirit in which the subject of the New-
Birth should be approached. It is to be a spirit of self-restraint, of con-
scious limitation of ability, and by so much a spirit of preparedness to
receive, not a mere confirmation of speculative opinion, hut a Divine
revelation of doctrine. The expression of wonder is not forbidden ;
there is a wonder which belongs to the region of doubt, there is also a
wonder which accompanies glimpses of new phases of truth. This wonder
is one of the joys of the soul ; it often forces the ciy of delight, the shout
of men who have come suddenly on much spoil, A great shock of
surprise seems to come upon eveiy one respecting this new life. The shock
comes differently, indeed, but always comes. Sometimes, for example,
it comes on the intellectual side, as in the case of Nicodemus, throwing
into confusion the arguments and theories of a lifetime ; sometimes the
shock comes upon the selfish instincts, as in the case of the rich young
man who cannot give all his possessions to the poor ; sometimes the
shock comes on the natural sensibilities, as in the case of Bunyan,
extorting groans and lamentations the most piteous and distressing.
Such men represent the most dissimilar experiences. The young man %vho
had large property, might know nothing of the struggles of the master
in Israel, and John Bunyan, who had no riches at all, knew nothing of
the desperate hold which property may get upon the heart. Hence the
folly of setting up a common standard of judgment, or of any man
measuring all other persons by himself. The intellectual man has
troubles peculiarly his own. Is it an easy thing to pronounce oneself
a fool before God — to give up intelligence and conviction, and begin
just where little children begin % The man finds it is hard work to
give up one by one the elements which he imagined were necessary
to his manhood, and to start again empty-handed, as it were, or, at
least, with nothing that bears the mark of his own wit and indepen-
dence— to know as much about the great changes of his heart as he
knows about the course of the wind. He would part with money rather
than with theories ; he would endure the laceration of his natural sen-
sibilities, rather than surrender his logical position. What then? He

ON HUMAN REGENERATION. 139

cau only knoiv the agony of birth by givinr/ }(p tvhat he j)rizes most. He
might give all liis goods to feed the poor, and yet remain out of God's
kingdom ; he might give his body to be burned and yet keep the bad
heart. God will not give His kingdom other than as a revekition, and a
revelation always implies the ignorance and helplessness of the man to
whom it is given.

Though the mystery of regeneration may for ever remain unexplained,
yet it is important to have an idea of the truths with ■which it is insep-
arably identified. It would appear that Jesus Christ delivered the
most complete and formal gospel discourse to Nicodemus that he ever
uttered. That discourse occupies twenty-one verses of the chapter
in -which the text is found, and touches upon such subjects as — the
work of the Holy Ghost ; the Lifting up of the Son of man ; Faith ;
Divine Love ; Salvation ; Eternal Life. All this Jesus Christ spoke to the
man who came by night to talk about miracles. Could He have said
more if He had called the universe to audience % It is as if all the stars
had come out together to light a trembling traveller along a lonely road.

What Jesus Christ himself has left as a mystery it would be presump-
tuous in any man to attempt to explain. We hear the sound of the
wind ; we cannot follow it in all its way, yet we know the analogy of
intellectutxl life. Can we explain the origin and succession of ideas 1
How did they begin to expand, mature ? Do we know where the child
was displaced by the mani "The wind bloweth where it listeth, and
thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh and
whither it goeth ; so is every one that is born of the Spiiit." So, too, are
many of the processes of the mind. As with thoughts, so with affections.
Can we make plain all the secret processes of the heart, and trace the tran-
sition through which the soul passes from distrust to confidence, or from
indifference to admii'ation and love. The wind bloweth where it listeth,
and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh
or whither it goeth ; so, too, are the troubles and changes of the heart.
All birth is mysterious. " Thou knowest not how the bones do grow in
the womb of her that is with child." Can we say why one grain brings
forth thirty, and another sixty, and another a hundred fold 1 If we
cannot understand these earthly things, how can we understand things
that are heavenly 1 Yet, as the sound of the wind is heard, so are there
results which prove the fact of our regeneration. Jesus Christ says that
if any man is in Him, that man bringeth forth much fruit, as a branch
that abide th in the vine. The apostle Paul says that if any man be in
Christ, that man is a new creature, living in a new world, all old things
gone. The apostle John says that men know that they dwell in Christ
because Christ has given them of His Spirit. This is the practical side

140 THE CITY TEMPLE.

of the doctrine of regeneration. Thou hearest the sound thereof—
" secret things belong to the Lord our God," The regenerated man
is known by the spirit which animates his life, for it is the motive
which gives quality to character ; the regenerated man lives by rule, but
it is the unwritten and unchanging rule of love; the regenerated man
advances in orderliness, but it is the orderliness, not of mechanical stipu-
lation, but of vigorous and affluent life ; the regenerated man is con-
stantly strengthened and ennobled by an inextinguishable ambition to be
filled with all fulness of Christ — his new life springs up for ever as a
well of water that cannot be exhausted.

It is important to dwell upon the signs of regeneration, lest the doc-
trine be classed with merely speculative or metaphysical theology, a study
of deeply intellectual interest, but powerless in the life. It is quite con-
ceivable that an unregenerate man may do many outwardly decent or
even beautiful things, just as it is conceivable that a watch may be
altered by the hands, and not by the regulator, or as it is conceivable
that the ruddiness of the cheek may be artificial, and not natural. If an
unregenerate nature can produce the same quality of moral life as a
nature that has been born again by the power of the Holy Ghost, the
testimony of the inspired wi'iters is simply UDtrue, because that testi-
mony declares that " the carnal mind is enmity against God, for it is not
subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be ; so, then, they that are
in the flesh cannot please God." " The natural man receiveth not the
things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness unto him, neither
can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned." Thus, on the
explicit authority of Jesus Christ and his Apostles, the broadest possible
distinction is made between the First Bii'th and the Second Birth. " That
which is born of the flesh is flesh ; that which is born of the Spirit is
spirit ; marvel not that ye must be born again."

In making this great claim on behalf of regeneration, it is easy to see
the ground upon which a condemnatory charge may be ui-ged against
those who bear the name of Jesus Christ, How is it that new-born men
often walk as the children of this world 1

The answer is, that a man has not only a soul, bu.t a body ; that while
the soul is renewed the body remains in its own condition ; consequently,
though the Christian deliglits in the law of God with the inward mind,
yet he sees anothei- law in his members warring against the law of his
mind, and bringing him into the captivity of the law of sin, which is in
his members. " The flesh lusteth against the spirit, and the spirit
against the flesh ; and these are contrary the one to the other, so that
ye cannot do the things that ye would." It is undoubtedly true that
the spirit may attain great mastery over the flesh, so much so as to

ON HUMAN REGENERATION. 141

explain the apostle's woi-ds — " Ye are not in the flesh, but in the spirit,
if so be that tlie Spirit of God dwelleth in you." Still, as a matter of
fact, the body is dying ; an inexorable law condemns and hastens it to
the grave ; what, if in going down, it should trouble and vex the spirit 1
The Christian man is an anomaly : in a sense which unregenerate men
can never understand, his body and his soul are at constant war. What,
then, is the complement of regeneration 1 The complement of regenera-
tion is resurrection, and not until resurrection has done for the body
what regeneration has done for the soul, can men be perfect in the
stature and quality of Jesus Christ.

Is there anything suggestive in the inquiry, How can a man be born
when he is old? "What does the old man care for new sights, new eras,
new services 1 Does the old tree ever ask to be transplanted into new
gardens 1 Still the old should not be left without a word of hope. We
have known the spring work a wondei-ful transformation even upon old
trees, making them strangely beautiful with green leaf and blushing
blossom. I I'emember standing in a large forest, on an early spring
day ; the sky was bright, and there was a keen vigour in the air ; the
great trees were stretching their branches, as if appealing to the heavens ;
they seemed to be saying, " 0 Spring, come quickly, and clothe \is with
thy verdant beauty ; we have shivered through the long cold winter,
and now would be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven,
O Spring, thy kingdom come ! And what can I, a poor leafless human
tree, do but carry forward that prayer to a higher significance 1 O fairer
Sj)ring, O richer Summer, 0 purer Light, make me beautiful as a child
of God — Saviour, Father, thy kingdom come !

Is there anything suggestive in the circumstance that Nicodemus came
to Jesus Christ by 7ii(/Jit ? Oh, the night ! — how many troubled dovibtei'S
and inquirers are weary of its darkness ! Yet they are thankful for it,
because it protects them in part from the sneer of a faithless faith, and
gives them an opportunity of hiding the tears which daylight should
never see. It is better that the night of the soul should not write its
history. Let Christian men be mindful how they throw their weapons
into the night. Some honest man may be struck, some anxious heart
may be wounded, some who are coming to Jesus may be hindered.
Those who come by night shoiild be encouraged. God himself made the
night, as well as the day ; the moon is His, as well as the sun. We know
little moreof Nicodemus, but what we do know is suificient. Where do
we last And him ? We find him at the Cross and in the Light ! He
had found his way through the night to the morning, from the miracles
to the Cross ; and the^-e shall all true inquirers be found at last — at the
Cross and in the Li"ht !

142 THE CITY TEMPLE.

Let it be i;nderstood, then, that iu speaking of the New Birth we do
not attempt to explain the mystery ; on the contrary, we allow it not
only as a fact, but as a necessity. We cannot have religion of any kind
without mystery. We cannot construct the clumsiest mythology without
having mystery ; we cannot be Pagans without mystery ; we cannot
carve a slab to the Unknown God withoiit sinking into the darkness of
mystery. But through the Christian mystery there comes a Christian
fact, and it is by that fact that Christianity must be judged. We know
the new man by his new life ; we know the new worker by his new
works ; we know the heart by the hand. A Christian is the best defence
of Christianity. A living man is the most convincing argument on
behalf of the Christian religion. We are called not to reformation, but
to regeneration — not to morality (popularly so called), but to theology as
Jesus Christ intei'preted it. If we accept the heavenly call, we shall at
last be found — at the CROSS and in the LIGHT. It is finished.
Christ and Christians are for ever one.

Cnnrlubiirq: ^rai)jex\

Almighty God, work mightily in our hearts, and give us the joy of the
New Birth ! Sometimes we are so distressed by our sins that we feel
us if we needed to be born again every day, — and is it not true that we
do require continual regeneration ? We feel that regeneration is not a
complete and final act on any one daj^, but that our whole life upon
«^arth is the period over which our renewal extends. Yet we pray Thee
to save VIS from the temptation to indolence which is associated with
such a notion ; help us to strive as if all could be done at once, and then
to wait with trembling love until our new life is perfectly established.
We do not complain of the mystery of Thy working ; we rather glory in
it. How can we find out God to perfection "? Thou art in heaven, far
beyond the atmosphere in which we live and move, and have our being';
we know not the height and splendour of the sanctuary which over-
looks the imiverse ; we live in an atom ; we think in a circle ; we come
again and again upon our old courses of thought ; our minds can tell us
nothing new ; do Thou continue to surround us with Thy mysteries, and
to inspire us with Thy truth. Ever call vis to higher attainment in the
blessed life of faith in the blessed Saviour. 0 Jesus, Lamb of God,
whose grace is all-sufficient, be to us a constant salvation. Day by day

CONCLUDING PRAYER. 143

dwell with us, and may onr whole life shine with heavenly radiance, in
proof of our fellowship with Thee. We love Thee more than words can
tell ; we love Thee most when we most need Thee by reason of the
burden and the bitterness of our sin. We bless Thee for many a secret
visit ; often Thou dost surprise us into grateful tears, by reason of Thine
unexpected visits to our hearts in their hours of sad wondering and
troubled hope. We hail Thee, O Deliverer, O Mighty One, O God the
Son ! As Thou, 0 Blessed Word, wast mad flesh, so may Thy divine
Word be made flesh by us who receive it, and live upon it; help us to
repeat in l^nearthliness and sublimity of life the holy mystery of Thine
own incarnation ! Emmanuel, never leave us — Son of God, hold our
hand for ever in Thine own ! Amen, Lord Jesus, Amen,

Citjj Ccmple 'Bok$.

We have resolved to attempt an occasional variation of common pulpit methods.
Next Sabbath morning (December 12, 1869) we intend to deliver a Parable on
Christian Faith. Though we have a strong dislike of anecdotes in the pulpit,
yet we are confident that the dramatic element may now, as in the days of Jesus
Christ, be most usefully introduced into Christian teaching. Our purpose is to
trace, at least in rough outline, the difficulties of an honest doubter, and to answer
those diiEculties, so far as we can. Instead of treating the mysteries of the
Christian religion abstractly, we shall endeavour to invest them with the interest
which is excited by the individuality of a determined doubter, who puts his case
strongly, though not ii-reverently. A series of Parables of this kind ought to have
special attractions for the Young and the Sceptical ; for the young, because of the
personality and vivacity of the dialogue ; and for the sceptical, because of our
earnest desire to meet the case of men who claim to be independent and enlight-
ened doubters in relation to many fundamental Christian propositions. We hereby
issue an invitation to Young Men, resident in the City of London, who are not
already attached to other congregations. The Service will commence at 10.45.

This attempt to preach by parable will enable us, to some extent, to overcome a
difficulty in another direction. A few weeks ago, we announced our determination
not to deliver lectures, and, acting upon that determination, we have refused several
valued invitations. We have been urged to modify our decision, and, as the
request comes from a high quarter, we have carefully reconsidered the whole
question. Our dislike of lectures remains and deepens ; our love of preaching the
Gospel continues and increases : but, by delivering parables on Christian subjects,
we may be enabled to keep the spirit of our decision, and yet to show our interest
in Young Men's Associations. There is one difficulty which must be clearly under-
stood by those who may invite our service — viz. , we coidd not deliver fewer than
three parables without breaking the connection, and by so much impairing the
interest of the discussion ; we should, therefore, be under the necessity of taking
three Monday evenings in succession, so as to secure anything a])proaching com-
pleteness. Our help in this matter can be but very occasional, yet it will be a
sincere pleasure to us to show our interest in the spiritual culture of the young
men of London.

Report of a Service coxi>ucted by

JOSEPH PAEKEE,

In the Poultry Chapel, on Thuusday Mokning, December 9th, 1869,

After singing the hymn commencing " Guide me, 0 Thou great
Jehovah," the following passages of Scripture were repeated : —

' ' And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was
pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the
fruit thereof, and did eat."
*" The lust of the eyes is not of the Father, but is of the world."

" They did eat and were filled, for he gave them their own desire ; they were
not estranged from their lust, but while their meat was yet in their mouths the
wrath of God came ujion them, and smote down the chosen men of Israel."

" Seek not after your own heart and your own eyes."

' ' Be not wise in thine own eyes. "

Living God, and God of all living, save us from death. Show us, by
increasing our life, that Thy great purpose is to bring us into a great
and glorious immortality. Deliver us from our own notions of life and
honour, and help us to live in joyful obedience to Thy will. Specially
teach us that it is in Thy power to make death itself the servant of life,
and show us that by Thy mysterious law that which we sow is not
quickened except it die. Teach us that we ourselves must die before we

13

146 THE CITY TEMPLE,

can truly and for ever live. Lord, slay ns with Thine own sword, that
Ave perish not by the hand of the devil ! Our hope is in crucifixion
with Jesus Christ. With Him would we humbly say, Not our will but
Thine be done ! Tliou hast severely yet graciously chastised us when
we have sought to walk in our own light, and to turn away from the
brightness of Thy face. Thou hast punished us by allowing us to have
our own way. We have put our feet into the nest of the serpent, and
drunk greedily at poisoned wells ; often have we mistaken the coiled
scorpion for an egg, and been stung for our own ignorance and fool-
hardiness. We said unto the darkness, " Let there be light," but the
darkness gave no heed to our voice ; we commanded the waters to
stand back in heaps, but the floods despised us ; we smote the rock that
we might find in it the cooling stream, but the flint made no answer to
our rod : Thou, Lord, must go before us to make all our way plain —
Thou must teach iis — Thou must overrule all our desires — Thou must
inspire the prayer and then satisfy it with blessing. Kot our will but
Thine be done ! Blind, we cannot see things as they really are ; deaf,
we hear not all the feet and wings that are for ever busy about our way ;
Lord, see for us and hear for us, and teach us what to do, and wherein
we are stiflT-necked and self-sufficient do Thou break us down by the
most humbling disappointments and by the bitterest mortifications.
We see but parts of things — Thou seest round the whole universe ; we
hear but the sounding of the present hour — Thou hearest the voices of
all the future ; — O Lord of Hosts, 0 God of ages, 0 Spirit of eternity,
.^^0^ 0U7' will but Thine be dotie. Amen and Amen.

ON MEN HAVING THEIR OWN WAY.

" He gave them their request, but sent leaaness into their souL " — Psalm cvi. 15.

In opening a discoui'se upon these words, let us remind ourselves of
the mocking part which unregulated and selfish desire or request has
invariably played in human history. Our own desires, born of our own
lusts, and tempting us to infringements of Divine order, have never
brought us anything but loss and pain and shamefacedness. When we
have succumbed to their tyrannous power we have found that the prize
was death, and that the expected joy was intolerable as the smoke of
the bottomless pit. I could ask you to bear me out in this strong
statement by many dreary passages from your own experience. I quote
from the book of the world, and from no merely private record, when I
say that our desires have often yielded us deep delight, and their
fulfilment has often smitten us as with a mortal plague. The tale
is an old one. All its chapters were written in the first Paradise.
We have pet our hearts upon some forbidden pleasure ; by night we
have dreamed of its attainment; we have sat silently for hours luxuriating
in happy expectation ; we have woven our plans like a cunningly
fashioned net ; we made every gate secure ; we quieted our best monitor
with deadly opiates ; we burned and quivered with delight, — O bow
sweet was to be the joy, how complete the security ! We took many
a stolen glance at the forbidden tree ; we preferred its fragrance to all
the other odours of the garden ; as the crisis hastened we felt somewhat
of hesitation, we trembled, we looked round to know whether any eye
was upon us, we went forward a step and paused to catch the meaning of
some ghostly sound that sobbed in the rising wind, we plucked up our
dying courage and took the longed-for object, and then — then — what
had we ? The heavens and the earth became changed to us — every ray
of the sun was a sword — there was poison in every wave of the air —
little children seemed to shun our presence as if hell had already laid

148 THE CITT TEMPLE.

liold iipon us — passers-by escaped from our way as if our secret had been
revealed to them — and we who went to gather the fruits of our own
decree brought back the fiery sheaves of damnation !

All this will be instantly acknowledged so far as great sins are con-
cerned,— svich as adulteiy, theft, murder, and the like ; but my purpose
is to compel a much deeper confession, to say that we never depart from
the Divine will and seek our own desires without coming to failure and
grief. We are called upon to acknowledge God, not in some great
occasions of life only, but in all our ways ; and it is only in so far as we
refuse to take a single step in life, how unimportant soever it may at first
sight apjiear, without distinctly assuring ourselves of God's acquiescence,
that we walk surely to the most p\ire and abiding success.

In applying the principle of the text, let us look in the first instance for
illustration to the man who starts life with an idea that to he rich is the
highest result of labour. All his plans are laid accordingly. He lives
that he may be rich ; at night he dreams of wealth ; all his inquiries
have direct reference to the accumulation of property ; when he reads, it
is that he may more perfectly instruct himself in the art of money-
getting ; and what if, after devoting the whole strength of his manhood
to this one object, he should succeed 1 Would it be very wonderful if a
man who set himself night and day to the attainment of one object, esjje-
cially suck an object as money-getting, should succeed 1 The conquest of
a world of mud, a mere handful of dust, ought not to be so very
tremendous a difiiculty to any man who resolutely bends himself on
achieving it. The man whose case we are now supposing does succeed ;
after twenty or thirty yeai's' labour he pronounces himself a rich man :
hut look at his soul ! I know of no poorer man than he who has nothing
but gold. What is he but a magnificent shell ? What has he for
his barren universe but the empty cavity of the golden calf which he has
spent a lifetime in fashioning ? He is afraid o^he shortening days ; he
is afraid of his servants ; he is afraid of thieves by Wght ; he is afraid of the
telegraph and the post by day ; any wind that 'ajises may blow away
his property ; he has no mental resouixjes ; he is afraid to be alone : look
at him in this condition, and learn how wealth itself can be the most dis-
tressing poverty with which a human creature can be afflicted. It must
not be understood by this that it is impossible to be rich and yet to enjoy
the highest prosperity of soul. On such a subject a half truth is equal to a
whole falsehood, and therefore I take the opportunity of distinctly
declaring it as my belief, that it is possible for a man to attain the very
highest point of success in this world, and yet for his soul to maintain its
rightful supremacy,— possible for a man to stand upon the great mountain

0>T MEN HAVING THEIR OWN WAY. 149

o£his worldly honour possessing perfect integrity of spirit and liigh enjoy-
ment of Christian blessings. At the same time, are we not given to under-
stand by Jesus Christ himself that to be rich is to encounter one of the
most subtle and mighty temptations that can assail the soul '? " How
hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of heaven ! "
To have an overflowing abundance of this world's goods, never to know
the pang of hunger, or the crying of a desire that cannot be satisfied so
far as this world can meet it, is surely to be walking as it were
along the edge of an abyss, to be proceeding along a line on either side
of which there are depths that have never been measured, — yet it is
possible to have this world's goods and yet to know that man doth not
live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth
of God. What I condemn is the determined resolution of any man at
all risks and all costs to be rich ; it is of course quite possible that he
may succeed to the fullest extent, yet when he has succeeded he will
find that he has gone down in soul-quality, in the measure of his
manhood, in the delicacy of his spirit ; — success is failure ; victory is
defeat ; the prize is ruin !

The principle of the text includes all who would escape from painful
duty in order that they may indulge love of ease and quiet. There are
men to whom the point of heroism is for ever inaccessible ; they wish to
be let alone ; they cannot bear what to them is an irritating and
tormenting energy on the part even of their best friends ; they will not
expose themselves to the drudgery of civilization ; they are content to find
heaven in their couch, and to worship before the dreary altar of a sleeping
divinity. You know such men perhaps in considerable numbers. If the
world were left in their hands, no advance would be made towards a
higher state of things. Their only aim is to be quiet, to escape
labour, to shirk responsibility. You never find their names on subscrip-
tion lists ; you never find them taking part in any controversy whatso-
ever ; they know not the meaning of the word "champion," and
the higher word " sacrifice " is to them an impenetrable mystery ; they
hesitate not to describe as fools the men who are expending their best
strength for the education and advancement of the world ; they
often indulge a sickly sneer at the expense of the noble leaders who
are willing to give themselves up even to crucifixion for the world's
redemption. Now it is perfectly possible for such men to have their
requests granted to them ; they can be let alone ; they can be shut up
in their ignoble obscurity ; — but look at their souls ! what have they of
aspiration, of generous impulse, and heaven-born desire 1 Never having
been hated, it is impossible they can ever be deeply loved ; never having

150 THE CITY TEMPLE.

been cast out for truth's sake, they know nothing of the high and
ennobling joy which fills the hearts of men who have been called, not
only to do, but to suffer for that which is heavenly. I put before you
young men a very serious alternative : if you like you can live a strictly
negative life ; you can be let alone ; you can have the reputation
of being innocent, inoffensive, harmless young men ; you can be well-
dressed cyphers ; you need never mix up in the world's fray ; you need
never send a sword upon the earth, nor need you ever kindle a fire against
which the children of evil shall cry out : you can have all these requests
if you like, but let me tell you openly, that having realized jowr
desire, your souls will have declined in all that is lofty and piire and
godlike. On the other hand, you can be " heroes in the strife " : you
can associate yourselves with ideas that create revolution ; you can follow
leaders who are never afraid of danger, and who are most courageous in
the presence of all that is oppressive ; in all this joxt need not be
im}>ertinent, immodest, self-asserting, — all this can be done with the
loveliest humility, with the sublimest self-sacrifice. Yoti can be known
as a teri'or to evil-doers ; your name can become a name that shall be
detested of all men that love darkness, and that work evil greedily with
both hands ; and if you elect so to be and so to do, your souls will be
called to the highest prosperity with which God can bless them, you will
have a consciousness of peace and an enjoyment of hope which can
come to yoti by no other process than thab of the fullest self-sacrifice and
the most determined action on behalf of principles that are Divine
and eternal. In our intercourse to-day, then, let it be distinctly
understood that it is possible for men to have their request for ease
granted to them, but the granting of it will be the ruin of their higher
nature ; on the other hand, it is distinctly asserted that those who lose
their ease for Christ's sake will come into a deep and perpetual
peace, kindred to the quiet and tranquillity of God himself.

The principle applies to men who make all their arrangements with a
view to the comfort of their physical tastes exclusively. There are
business men in our city to-day who have schemed for a future which,
if analyzed, would disclose nothing biit a careful regard for personal and
domestic comfort. I can give you the bi'ief programme of such men:
it runs after this fashion — Country, Garden, Quietness, Out-door
amusements. I thought I could have mentioned a fifth object of pursuit,
but I believe this exhausts the whole scheme. Now it is for them to say
whether they will persist in urging this request. They are at perfect
liberty to leave the City, to abandon the poor, to get away from all
that is foetid, noisome, and otherwise offensive ; but let thera beware lest,

ON MEX HAVING THEIR OWN WAY. 151

in reaching this supposed heaven, they find tliat they have gone in the
wrong direction, and that where they expected heaven to begin they find
that they have only i-eached the outward edge of earth. Men who
make arrangements exclusively with a view to physical comfort never
ask the questions which are the chief inquiries of souls that truly
live. They do not say. What kind of preaching shall we have in
the locality to which we propose to move ] "What scholastic advan-
tages will be available ? What libraries will be accessible ] No !
What they want is Country, Garden, Quietness, Out-door amuse-
ments— and they get them; but the fruit which they had coveted so
eagerly turns to ashes in their mouths ! On this point I should like to
deliver a very distinct testimony. There are men who do perfectly
right in going to the country and enjoying all that fi-esh air and
sunlight can do for them. After the exciting chase and toil of the day
they require all the calmness which they can secure. But let me tell
you tliat there are dangers connected with this kind of suburban life.
It is not always a safe thing to train children in the higher planes of
civilization without giving them to know that there are sti-ata below
them in which sin and poverty and misery are playing terrible parts.
What if, in giving your children all the advantages of education and
the enjoyments of country life, you should bring them into the City
on the Lord's Day to enable them by teaching in the Sunday School, or by
aiding other Christian agencies, to have an opportunity of expending their
culture for the benefit of the unflivoured and the lost 1 1 take it upon
myself to say, that if you could spend any portion of your time in so
doing, you would return to your country enjoyments with a keener relish,
you would find in your fruits a sweetness, and see in your flowers a flush
of beauty which otherwise could never be enjoyed.

A man may be seeking his own desires, and deluding himself with the
promise that after he has realized them he will turn liis success to the
advantage of the Christian cause. He says, that when he becomes rich,
which he intends doing with the utmost possible speed, the Christian
treasury shall never be allowed to decline; he boldly says, that when
he builds his palace the Chi-istian advocate shall never need a home ; he
does not hesitate to declare that when he has attained wide social
influence, everything that is good shall have the fullest advantage of
his reputation. AU this sounds very well, but let us take care lest we
be deluding ourselves, and be actually losing the very spiritual power
which is necessary to the realization of those high promises. By such
delusions as these the devil is clothed in the costliest purple, and passed
into the man's life as a sruest sent of God. Alas ! men can tell lies to

152 THE CITY TEMPLE.

their own hearts. The left hand can cheat the right. Even conscience
itself can be put to sleep, and forced to fraudulent endorsements, while
the spell of slumber is unbroken. A terrible danger is this, namely, that
a man may be going east and west at the same time ! It is possible for
a man's heart to be divided against itself, for a man to be living two
lives, for a man to be promising himself things that are most heavenly,
while at the same time he is kneeling with constant devotion before the
altar that is inscribed to the devil When will men be honest to them-
selves 1 "When will men dare to go into their veiy innermost hearts, and
look afc themselves in all candour and faithfulness 1 Men are wicked
when they have to hush the Divine voice that is within them ; men are
in danger of committing the unpardonable sin when the}'' quench the
spirit that God has put Avitliin them for the interpretation of duty and
the demand of right.

Mark where the judgment of God falls — it falls on the highest nature
— it falls on the soul ! " He gave them their request, but he sent lean-
ness into their souls." The man on whom God's disapprobation rests
withers at his very root. His mental power declines, his moral nature
shrivels ; he goes down in the volume and quality of his being. Think of
a lean soul ! ^o compass, no grandeur, no tenderness of manhood ! A
lean soul, narrow, stunted, withered, sapless, blind, deaf, idiotic ! The man
vmuld have his prize ; he would set up his own wisdom ; he would be as
God unto himself; — and now look at him, and see how hunger- bitten and
ghastly is his dishonoured soul. You have heard of the white ant, that
commits such terrible devastations in M'ooden buildings in some portions
of the globe. That little insect, an inch long, will insert itself into the
largest wooden structure that men can put up, and in course of time it
will eat away the whole of it, leaving nothing but the thinnest outer shell ;
the building will look as if nothing had befallen it ; the shape will be
unaltered ; but put your finger upon it, or bring the slightest pressure
to bear iipon it, and you will find that it is no longer solid, but a hollow
and useless outline. Is there not a more terrible power that enters
into the inner nature of man, and utterly consumes all that is strong
and noble and beautiful in his soul % Is it not j^ossible for a man to have
a fair exterior, and yet to have no mind, no -sympathy, no tenderness %
This is the dreadful ruin against which I seek to caution myself and
others. So far as our outward circumstances are concerned, our fullest
request may have been granted. We may have estates, titles, honours ;
men may wait for our word, and follow our .guidance in all secular
speculations and engagements ; and yet it may be said of us, " In thy
lifetime thou receivest thy good things" — so with the request, on the

ON MEN HAVING THEIR OWN WAY. 153

one hand answered to the utmost, we have on the other a soul that has
been dwarfed almost up to the point of extinction.

A man sets his miud on standing on some high place ; he points to a
pillar, and says that if he could ascend to its summit he would see
from that lofty elevation glimpses of heaven, and he determines that he
will stand upon that summit, whatever hazaixls he may incur. At
length God grants him his request, and when the man has ascended to
the eminence which he coveted, what does he find 1 Sand, sand, sand !
Mile on nnle of sand— sand for mile on mile ! And now he wishes to
descend ; but how to get down is his gi^eat diificulty. There may be no
way down but that which involves suicide. Yet the man was deter-
mined to reach that elevation ; nothing could stand between him and
his wish ; he urged God to gi'ant him his request ; with imi»ortuuate
desire he besought that he might have his own way ; and there is no
punishment heavier than that which falls upon any man when God
allows him to take his own coui-se. Terrible is the hour in which God
says concerning any man, " Let him go." We cannot see it at first ; we
persuade ourselves that the highest success must be the result of this
couT'se or that, and we will not listen to the voice of God ; we regard it
as impracticable and deceptive, yet when we do take our course, and
come to look at the results of our w^ork, we find that having realized our
own idea of honour, we have jeopardised or lost our souls.

The great lesson, then, which we have to learn from this text, and from
all the applications to which we have now turned our attention, is to
say from the heart, with trembling, yet earnest love, " Not our will but
Thine be done." That is the lesson, but where is the school in which it
can be learned? Is there such a school 1 Yes. The school in which
this great lesson can be learned is called the CROSS ! There is no other
school in which this lesson is taught. Men may try to reason them-
selves into it ; men may try by fine philosophy to come to a point of
resignation that shall yield them high advantages ; but all their labour
will be in vain. We must be slain on the Saviour's Cross ; we must
enter fully into the pain which our Saviour endured ; our hands and
our feet must be nailed to the accursed, yet blessed tree ; the very last
desire of our selfislniess must be extinguished, and then shall we come
into the joy and the infinite peace of walking with God. Is there any-
thing unreasonable in this? Anything derogatory to our dignity as
human creatures 1 We resent tlie suggestion. There can only be one
will that is infinite in wisdom ; there can^only be one absolute standard
of goodness ; by so much as Almighty God has any claim whatever to

154 THE CITY TEMPLE.

be considered the Creator, the Redeemer, and the Preserver of the race,
is He entitled, not to mere consultation, not to reluctant obedience, but
to the profoundest and most loving homage of the heart. As to those
of you who believe this doctrine thoroughly, and endeavour to live in
its spirit, let me give to you a gentle and inspiiing blessing. " He will
fulfil the desire of them that fear Him." Delight thyself in the Lord,
and He shall give thee the desires of thine heart." O rest in the Lord,
and wait patiently for Him, and He will give thee thine heart's desire."
It is true we have to wait ; it is true that we have to find our way to
rest often through many most humbling disappointments ; but because
the mouth of the Lord hath spoken, we may be sure that the denial of
our prayers is one of the Divine blessings which fall to our lot, and that
when we perish in the outward man the inward man is blessed with the
renewal which will be consummated in the imperishable and unmingled
bliss of heaven. Learn to wait. The trial of patience is itself a
blessing. To us, promptitude appears to be essential to satisfaction,
but we know nothing of the true meaning of the word promptitude ;
we measure duration by our own standai'ds of time, not by the solemnity
and compass of eternity. Let us show that it is God whom we trust,
by that reality of patience which is worthy of His infinite majesty.
The desire of the humble He never puts to shame ; the prayer of the
lowly is never answered with dishonour. When the great blessings
which are promised to patient saints are poured upon us, like a rain
long-looked for, we shall see that our sorrow has passed like a short
night, and that our joy is as the long summer day. Let us decline to
be left to our own counsel, — let us charge our souls to wait only upon
God!

Citjy Cempk l^otts.

THE THURSDAY SERVICE AT THE POULTRY CHAPEL.

In answer to inquiries respecting this Service, it will save a good deal of
correspondence to give a short account of its establishment. Dujing my ministry
in Cavendish Street Chapel, Manchester, I had often felt the importance of
attempting to meet the spiritual wants of men engaged in business who could not,
for good reasons, avail themselves of the customary week evening service in con-
nection with their respective places of worship. In order, however, to meet the
case satisfactorily, sevei-al concurring conditions are absolutely indispensable, and
perhaps the chief of them is a place of worship so situated as to be within easy
reach of all classes of the mercantile population. The comioaratively small attend-
ance of men, and especially of the higher class of merchants at week-evening
prayer-meetings, has often been lamented ; and yet, so practical are the difficulties
in the way of increasing such attendance, that many pastors have drop23ed the
subject even from their most zealous exhortations. I speak in the fear of God in
saying that no conceivable invitation to undertake merely the ordinary work of the
pastorate could have led me to relinquish my position in Manchester. Surrounded
by men able to bring unusual resources of every kind to bear upon the pro-
jection and execution of the most important enterprises ; placed in the heart of
a great county ; working in buildings confessedly the best in the Independent
denomination ; and supported by friendships which had been subjected to every
test of sincerity during eleven years, the idea of separation could not be otherwise
than most painful to me. If the affection of many hearts, a high degree of per-
sonal comfort, and many happy public relations, could alone have kept me in
Manchester, no hesitation as to a decision could have arisen on my part. The cir-
cumstances, however, which gave distinctiveness to my invitation to London were
quite unique — first, as officially explained by the friends who con\'eyed it, and
secondly, as presenting themselves to my own mind. To be identified with the
budding of a large chapel in an easdy accessible positio i in the metropolis, is to be
charged with responsibilities which I would rather invite than decline. On this
point more need not at present be said in this connection. The one hope that
most deeply impressed itself upon me in connection with the present chapel was

156 CITY TEMPLE NOTES.

the hope of establishing a midweek Service that should command the attention of
the business men of London. That hope determined me to leave a sphere in which
it was my intention to live and die. In no other English city than London could
such a Service be carried on with effect. Every condition of success is found in
the whole arrangements of metropolitan life. To-dixy we praise God for an extent
of realization which is marvellous in our eyes. The fact that the Service never
exceeds an hour in duration secures the attendance of men to whom time is
important, and the fact that everything is intended to be practical appeals to the
confidence of men who are thoroughly in earnest. At the Thursday Service all
seats are free. Persons are at liberty to come into the chapel even for a few
minutes. There is nothing formal or rigid in any part of the arrangements.
Everything is adapted to the urgency of business life. These explanatory words
will help all our readers to understand our position, and may possibly provoke
other churches to make an effort in a similar direction. A great field is before us
in this week-day work, and God will not deny the importunate prayers of many
who are praying that the harvest may be very great.

Report of a Service conducted by

JOSEPH PAEKEE,

In the Poultry Chapel, on Thursday Morning, December IGtii, 1869.

The service was commenced by the repetitiou of the following passages
of Scripture : —

" Will God in very deed dwell with men upon the earth ? "

"Though the Lord be high, yet hath He respect unto the lowly."

" The Lord is uigh unto them that are of a broken heart."

" Thus saith the High and Lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is
Holy ; I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and
humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the
contrite ones."

Blessed Saviour, we worship Thee as o\ir heart's one God. Without
Thee we ai-e incomplete ; nay, we are less than nothing ; we are shadows
without a centre, we are voices of self-contradiction, without wisdom or
truth ; but with Thee, and as interpreted by Thy love, we are sons of
God, walking in heavenly light, and having resounding in our hearts
most blessed promises. We humbly pray Thee to abide with us con-
stantly as the Giver of our life, and the Supporter of our being ; show

14

158 THE CITY TEMPLE,

Thyself \into us by day, flame forth upon us from every wayside
bush, and make Thyself known unto us in the breaking of our daily
bread. Make all common things symbols of high realities, and
grant that in every event of life we may so plainly see Thine hand as
to be led daily to profounder homage and tenderer love. May we in
our life show by the wisdom of the serpent, and the harmlessness of the
dove, that our Instructor is God, and may God be glorified in us by
reason of our holiness. We are not content with ourselves, we are sin-
ners before Thee ; God be merciful unto us sinners. O, Thou who dost
cleanse man's sin by the precious blood of the Lamb of God, do Thou
take away every stain of our guilt, and make us without spot or wrinkle,
or any such thing ; and grant that by our growth in gi-ace, and in the
knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ, we may live a life that is hidden
from the world, we may have meat to eat that the world knows not of,
and in our broken heart do Thou set up Thy blessed Temple Walk
with us, abide with us, speak miicli to us by night and by day ; come to

us in the time of our sorrow, and do Thou attemj^er and chasten our joy.

Give unto us life more and more abundantly ; Thou hast no pleasure in

death. Thy joy is to give eternal life ; we have tasted of that life and

woidd now eat and drink abundantly.

Holy Father, blessed Son of God, and coequal Spirit, dwell with us in

ever increasing manifestation, show us the purity and love of God, and

bless us with the promise of etei-nal life. Amen.

^ht Smmn.

(J

ON CHRIST MANIFESTING HIMSELF.

' ' He that loveth me I will love him, and will manifest myself to him,

— John xiv. 21.

Here is a promise of Divine manifestation to the human mind, and of
Divine indwelling in the human heart. " He that loveth me shall be
loved of my Father." " If a man love me, he will keep my words : and
my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our
abode with him." So, then, God need not be unto the human soul as a
far-off and unapproachable king — he may be in the heart as a gracious
Father : his presence need not be as a coldly glittering star away in
the inaccessible heights, but as a summer filling the heart with fire,
working in the life all the strange enchantments of intermingling
colours, and covering the soul with abundant fruitfulness Thus we
have distinctly set before us the highest possibility in spiritual life — the
possibility of being temples of the Holy Ghost, of having fellowship with
the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ, and of being made partakers
of the Divine nature. This thought should silence the clamour of all
earthly appeal to our affections, and give us the true idea of our suscep-
tibilities as children of God. We can do the daily business of life, yet
through it all can have shining upon us the most holy and transfiguring
image of the Son of man ; we can be in the city of men, yet hidden in the
sauctuai*y of God ; our feet may be in the dust, but our heads among those
who worship day and night ; we may carry with us Him whose name is
Wonderful, Counsellor, Mighty God. So being and so doing we are no
longer of the world ; we are only waiting to pay it back the dust it lent us,
and then we shall be free of it for ever ; our true life is hidden ; it is iu
God's keeping ; it is never seen drawing water from this world's muddy
wells, nor eating the base food of the beasts that perish ; it lives on the
living word, it draws water from the wells of salvation ; it has meat to eat
that the world knoweth not of. " This is a great mystery, but I speak
concerning Christ and His Church" — and I invite you to follow me, in a
prayerful and q^uiet spirit, iu an endeavour to show first the condition on

160 THE CITY TEMPLE.

wliich Divine manifestation is' granted; and, secondly, some of the
blessed evidences by which we may know that sixch manifestation has
been realized in our own experience. O Spirit of Light, shine upon us,
that we may see every step of the ascending and glorious way !

I. The condition on which Divine manifestation is granted to man.

That condition is distinctly asserted in the text, and in other Scriptures,
to be love. " Tlie Father Himself loveth you, because ye have loved
nie." " If any man love me, I will manifest myself unto him." Where
love is wanting, all is wanting ; there may be rough interpretations of
the Divine presence as seen in the wonders of creation; for he would be
a fool who could mistake the sun as having been written by any other
hand than God's ; he who reads only the writing on the face of nature
is as the letter-carrier, who reads only the outward addi-ess, not the wise
and tender words written for the heart. Love is, so to speak, the faculty
by which we apprehend God, without which we can never know more of
Him than tliat He is a dread mystery. Love is the fulfilling of the law :
Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy strength. Nor need it
appear strange that love is the only intei^preter of God. In all our
education and intercourse we find again and again that love sees farthest,
hears quickest, feels deepest. God has not set up an arbitraiy test of
manifestation, He has taken the common coui'se of our life, and given it
applications to Himself. I might challenge the worshipper of Nature
to say whether his god does not demand precisely the same condition of
manifestation 1 The mountain is saying, If any man love me, I will
manifest myself unto him ; the sun holds the same language, so does the
sea, so does every leaf of the forest. Two men shall walk along the same
road ; the one shall see nothing of beauty, and hear nothing of music ;
when he reaches his journey's end, he may, perhaps, have a dim im-
pression that there was a hedge on one side of him, and that there was
garden land on the other, he may not be prepared absolutely to deny that
a bird or two might have been singing in the air as he came along, he
may not be ready to take an oath that now and again he passed a wayside
flower ; but he knows nothing, he is not in the slightest degree enriched
by reason of his walk through the enchanting scenery ; to such an eye as
his, Nature refuses to reveal herself in any but her most outward forms,
and even they are misunderstood by so blind a reader ; the comjjanion
who walked with him has, on the contrary, enriched his mind with many
a picture, he has heard voices which will linger in his ear for many a
day, the wayside flower has spoken to him some tender message, and the
whole scene has been to him as the distinct handwriting of the great

ON CHRIST MANIFESTING HIMSELF. 1'61

Creator, How are we to account for the difference 1 The road was the
same, the two men travelled the same path at the same moment, yet thie
one was poor at his journey's end, and the other was filled with a sweet
delight ; the explanation is easy : the one loved Nature, and therefoi-e
Nature manifested herself to his admiring eye ; the other cared nothing
for Nature, and Nature in return cared nothing for him. What I wish
to insist upon is, that even in your sanctimry, O worshipper of Nature,
the same law holds good as in the sanctuary of the living God ; in both
we hear the words, " If any man love me, I will manifest myself unto
him." The same rule holds good with Art. Every great picture is
saying to those who look upon it. If any man love me, I will manifest
myself unto him. It is not every man who can read a pictui-e. To
some men a picture is only so much canvas and so much paint, without
life, without idea, without poetry ; there the great work hangs, having
no message to those who look upon it with unappreciative eyes. You
have heard persons who knew nothing of works of art, who, in passing
great pictures, have said, " That is not so bad," or, " What a glorious
Jrmne that is i " but into the soul of the painter they have not seen
at allj they have not appreciated the expenditure of mind and soul
which has been lavished on that costly work. On the other hand,
there have been men who have stood before a great picture' dumb
with amazement, quivering with inexpressible delight, moved to the
very depths of their being ! The picture is the same, the light
in which it is viewed by both jjarties is the same ; yet to the one
mind the jiicture is representing truths too deep for utterance, and to
the other nothing but the coarsest exteiior. Here again, therefore,
we are thrown back upon the law of the text, and are shown that
it is no arbitrai-y law which Almighty God has set up : Art unites
with Nature in saying in the most distinct manner, If any man love me,
I will manifest myself unto him. Nor do we come to a change of this
law if we enter into the circle in which human nature is most deeply
studied. You can never know a man deeply until you love him. If
you wish to know what is in your friend, sound his depths by entrusting,
him with nioi'e and more of your i'riendship. As flowers expand in the
simshine, so character discloses itself under the genial radiance of
trustful affection. All character, indeed, does not reveal itself in the
same way, but some men, and probably the grandest men, do not show
themselves fully except under the influence of love. We may make
many happy conjectures concerning the disposition of men ; by putting
one thing and another together which we may have seen in their character,
we may come to some tolerably correct conclusion regarding the life of
those whom we carefully study ; but to know a man deeply and truly,

162 THE CITY TEMPLE.

to know him as he knows himself, we must test him by our own love,
we must develop him by the fulness and reality of our special trust.
The mother often knows more about the child than the father does. You
may remember that in your childish days you were able to go to your
mother \nth. a very broken story, and she was patient and wise enough
to put it together for you and make something of it ; but you did not
care to go to your father until you had a straightforward story to tell,
and were prepared to stand a close cross-examination upon it. Perhaps
some girl will mentally interrupt me here, and say that in her case it
was precisely the contrary, for she could go to her father better than to her
mother ; I am glad to know it ; such an instance does not at all destroy
the validity of my position ; it still remains true that where there is the
most love there will be the highest power of interpretation, and that
love will draw from its object most surely all that it requires. What
we have found in Nature, in art, and in the human circle, we find in the
whole coui'se of our general study. The poet is saying, If any man love
me, I will manifest myself unto him. He will not speak to the prosaic
reader. His poem will be but so many liuvs to the man who has no
poetic faculty. The poet will only speak to the poet. Two men shall
read the same poem — one will feel it tedious and wearisome exceed-
ingly, the other will feel as if it ended too soon — so rich, so inspiring, so
gi'and he felt it to be. What is this but the application of the prin-
ciple of the text t So with the musician : to some men (men, indeed,
who are to be sincerely pitied) music is nothing ; it does not come to
them with interpretations which could never be expressed in common
words ; they are lo.st in what, to them, is a terrible discord — the clash of
instruments, the throbbing of great drums, the roll of stupendous organs,
the blending of many voices — to them it is all confusion, without spiiit,
without figure, withoiit signification. To others, music is as a voice
from heaven : in the grand compositions of the masters they see
as it were the very spirit of music walking upon the wings of the
tuneful wind, and beckoning them away to higher scenes and nobler
delights than earth can afford. How is this 1 Music will not visit the
silent chambers of the soul that gives it no loving invitation ; music, on
the contrary, will never cease to sound in the hearing of those who
pray that her voice may continue to soothe and inspire them. We
come, thei'efore, again and again upon the princijjle of the text. What-
ever be your god — be it Nature, be it Art, be it humanity, you
will find in it the same law that you find in the text, namely,
that without love there can be no true manifestation. It is the same
with reading books. All authors are not the same to us ; we must take
something to an author before we can get from him all that he will give.

ON CHRIST MANIFESTING HIMSELF. 163

The Stones of Venice must be hard I'cading to a man who cares
nothing for gothic, byzantine, bases, jambs, and aixhivolts ; Shakes])eare
is uninteresting to the man who bi'ings nothing of the dramatic in his
own nature to tlie interpretation of the great poet ; such a man will flee
to Euclid's Geometry, as to an ark of refuge. Yes, even geometry
itself insists upon the application of the law which we find in the text.
Euclid is dull reading to the man who does not love mathematics ; but
to him who has, so to speak, a geometrical mind, even straight lines and
circles are apt to become things of beauty. You will not regard these
illustrations as tedious if they help you in any degree to realize the
principle, that love is the secret of manifestation. In setting up love
as the condition of Divine fellowship, God does not set up an arbitrary
law. This, indeed, is tlie common law of the universe. Like ever goes
to like. He who loves the Devil most, knows most of the Devil. To
love vice is to be a learned scholar in the school of the infernal spirit ;
is to be really clever at wickedness, to be refined in iniquity, to be a
genius in abomination. Some men are so little learned in the arts of
the Devil as to expose themselves to the intei'ference of the policeman
and the magistrate ; they are such clumsy servants of their bad master
as actually to be imprisoned, and to be otherwise punished by the laws
of their country ; others, again, are such adepts in the art of doing that
which is forbidden, that they can manage to build up a reputation for
respectability while they are actually engaged in practices which cannot
bear the light of day, — so silent are they, so skilful, so deeply do they
love the Devil, that they receive from him the most secret manifestations,
■whilst they can look abroad upon the world with a face which simulates
the appearance of innocence. The law is imjjartial. To love is to know ;
to love is to have ; to love is strength ; to love is life.

II. I intended to say something about the blessed evidences that we
have realized this Divine manifestation ; but why attempt to explain
what must of necessity be too great for utterance in words 1 When God
is showing Himself in the heart, there are many signs of His presence.
In our deej^est intercourse with the Father our souls enter into an
ecstasy in which language is felt to be jiowerless. You cannot have God
in your heart without knowing that He is there. You cannot always
explain, in common language, how it is that you are assured of His
presence ; yet there are flashes of light upon your mind, there are
surgings of love in your heart, which tell you most unmistakeably that you
are enjoying immediate fellowship with the Eather and His Christ. If
I were to enter into an enumeration of the evidences by which any man
can be assured that God is manifesting Himself to the human heart, I

164 THE CITY TEMPLE.

should put, first and foremost, this — namely, where God dwells there
will be i7icreasiny hatred of sin as sin. I do not say that there will be
mere dread of consequences ; I do not teach that men will avoid sin
simply because they fear the terrible rod which never fails to follow the
evil-doer. I insist rather, that where God is reigning in the heart there
will be an ever-deepening detestation of sin on its own account ; of sin
because it is sin, because it is so infinitely hateful to God Himself. Where
the spirit of order is in a man, he does not require to go with a square
and compasses, and other mathematical instruments, in order to test
whether this or that is out of order, or out of proportion ; he detects it
instantly, by reason of the very spirit that is in him. Where the spirit
of honesty is in a man, he does not retire in order to consult an act of Parlia-
ment before he completes his transactions with those who have entered into
business relations with him. He does not say, " If the act will allow
me to get off for ll|d., certainly I shall not pay Is. ; he is himself an act
of Parliament ; he is the incarnation of the spirit of honesty — he repre-
sents the great law of Divine righteousness, and because of the spirit of
integrity which is in him, it is utterly impossible for him to go astray
fi'om the path of rectitude. And even thus it is with regard to the very
highest attainments of the Divine life ; when the spirit oi holiness is in
a man, his whole life will be made holy thereby ; he will not cAve to con-
sult rules and codes as determined by human critics ; the spirit of holi-
ness that is in him will lead him into truth, into piirity, into the very
holiness of the all-holy God. Let us then put ourselves to the test on
this point ; if we would really know whether God is manifesting Him-
self to us, let us each say. Do I hate sin as sin, or would I roll it under
my tongue as a sweet morsel if I could do so without suffering evil con-
sequences for it ; do I abominate sin because it is opposed to the nature
of God, or do I profess to hate it merely because such pi'ofessiou will
secure for me a better standing in society 1 Would I sin if I were left
alone, or if the most perfect secrecy could be granted to me 1 These are
the piercing questions by which a man may test whether he is really
enjoying Divine manifestation or is living a superficial and perhaps a
hypocritical life. Next to insisting upon this proof of Divine manifest-
ation to the human heart, I should point out that where God really
dwells with men there will be on the part of men supremacy of the
spiritual over the material. The flesh will be servant, not master.
Christianity indeed does not destroy human passions, hut gives them a
higher direction. Where God dwells in the soul, and fills the mind
with heavenly light, and stirs the heart with blessed expectation, the
passions will, of necessity, take their order from reason. As the material
universe is under God's control, so will the human body be under the

ON CHRIST MANIFESTING HIMSELF. 165

control of the liuinan s{)irit, where God dwells iu the lieai't. As in
nature we find occasional outbreakiugs of storm — as the winds now and
again threaten to rock the world and shake it out of its place — as the
Volcano bursts forth in devastating fire— as the sea roars tuuiultuously,
so there may be in our bodily experiences proofs that we are yet in a
region where the enemy has some power over us ; yet as God sits above
the floods, and controls all the forces of creation, so will He give our spirit
ability to overmaster all the agitation end turbulence which show that even
yet we are more or less strangers iu a strange land. Out of this hatred of
sin and this spiritual supremacy, there will, of course, come perfect trust
in God's government of the world. The world becomes quite a new study
when the heart is renewed in Christ's love. The world is no longer a
threatening mystery ; it is still, indeed, a problem, but there is the most
jierfect assurance in the heart that the solution will bring nothing but
glory to the Divine name. When God manifests Himself toman, man is
delivered from the terrors of the present world ; he ceases to see mere
accident in the courses of daily life that perjilex him and distress him ;
he says, I do but see part of the Divine movement in this ; so far as
these events that appear to be disastrous are concei-ned, I see that
which is fragmentaiy, and I must jmtiently and confidently wait
until God has completed His whole purpose. This is a sure sign that
God is in tlie heart, for the world is displaced, its power is thrown down,
and, even in the most threatening circumstances, there is a calmness
which was never wrought in the human mind by carnal philosophy or
unassisted reasoning. The world becomes less and less to a man who
enjoys Divine fellowship. To some men the world is, of course, every-
thing ; they have but one little world in their tiny universe — of coui-se
they are boimd to make the most of it ; to the man who is the temple of
the Holy Ghost there is a great, and indeed immeasurable universe, in
view of which this speck of dust, on which some men would live for ever,
dwindles into its proper insignificance. The Christian and the worldling
are not, as they ought not to be, able to look upon the events of life
with the same composure. The worldling must, of necessity, live in a
constant state of alarm, because he is exposed to the mercy of what he
calls accident, chance, misfortune. The Christian, on the other hand, by
reason of taking wide views of things, by reason of associating himself
with that which is infinite and absolute, enters into a profound and
imperturbable peace. Yes, this peace is a sure sign that God is reveal
ing Himself to the heart. Where grace is, there will be the most blessed
peace. *' Great peace have they that love Thy law." The Lord will
bless His people with peace.

166 THE CITY TEMPLE.

My brother, art thou in search of the Holy Grail 1 Here it is. " If
any man love me, I will manifest myself unto him." Hast thou been
on the holy quest in many countries 1 Pause. The answer is here,
" If any man love me, I will manifest myself unto him." After many
heartaches, many blighting disappointments, many cruel mockings, art
thou still sighing for the Holy Sangreal 1 I have the answer, " If any
man love me, I will manifest myself unto him." We must begin with
love, the love which comes of earnest desire to know that which is
heavenly, and then, in due time, will come a still tenderer affection.
We must get to the point of love. All our self-sufficiency, all our high
notions, and mighty imaginings, must be cast away as things unclean
and unsatisfying, and then we shall see the Father. "Blessed ai-e the pure
in heart, for they shall see God." Love is the brightest purity. Purity
is the divinest love. I cannot tell you how wondi'ously God reveals
Himself to love ! He can never do enough for it ! It moves Him to lavish
upon us unsearchfable riches ! Nor is love on our part a fixed quantity ;
we may grow in love for ever, constantly going out after God, never
exhausting His grace, yet ever increasing in capacity to receive it. As
for your god, O ye idolaters of Mammon, your love is a vanishing
quantity, though it may appear to increase ; you are daily impairing
your very power to love ; you are letting your greedy god eat up your
hearts, and yet suffering him to delude you with the notion that you are
independent and high-minded thinkers. Mammon ! accursed god ! never
satisfied, never thankful, never beneficent, thou dost slay all to whom thou
dost reveal thyself ! Men of business, let me warn you against this
flattering and mocking money-god ; he will deceive you at last ; he will
stir you with most exciting promises — he will show you the kingdoms
of this world, and the glory of them ; he will throw open the doors of
enchanting palaces, and give you visions of temples in which all is
golden — but at last he will laugh you to scorn ! Yes ; he will sm-ely
reveal himself to you ; he will grin as devils only can grin ; and when
you see him as he is you shall be like him. Blessed ax'e they who have
turned with loathing from his jewelled altai's, and sought the Sangreal in
the blessed Ci-oss ! Blessed is their life^ — blessed is their peace — blessed
is their hope. Daily they draw themselves through the discipline of
earth, by the inspii-ing expectation of heaven, and by the sweetness of
gx'ace they overcome the bitterness of sin.

Cnncluirinq: "BxuDtw

Blessed Father, again we seek Thy face. Nothing less will satisfy our
heart's desire. Show Thyself to our inmost thoughts, and give us glimpses
of Thy beauty when our eyes are wearied by this world's wasteful and
mocking fascinations Make Thyself specially known to us in our ever-
increasing holiness ; when we are holy as Thou art holy, then shall weknow
of a truth that we have fellowship with the Father. Help us also to hold
spiritual dominion over the flesh ; may we walk not after the flesh but
after the spirit, and hold in constant sacrifice the powers and desires of
the body. A sight of Thee will be more than heaven to our souls. Thy
presence will turn our night into day ; Thy voice will reduce to harmony
the discords of a life which is full of trouble We wait for Thee. Our
love watches with joyful eagerness for every sign of Thy drawing nigh ;
our heart is as a prepared guest-chamber awaiting Thine arrival. O that
Thou mightest come quickly, and bless us with a gracious surprise ! We
will expect Thee : our eyes shall turn heavenward : we will promise our
hearts an early visit of Thy love : men shall know that we wait for the
living God. Do Thou keep our souls in the assui'ance of Thy presence,
and care, and infinite mercy : so shall we escape all the vain disquietudes
of life. If Thou dost forget us, our day becomes night ; when Thou
dost I'emember us, the darkness of the night cannot hide the glory of
Thy face from us. If for a small moment Thou dost forsake us, it is
that Thou may est cover us with everlasting mercies. Thou canst not
utterly cast us ofi". Thou comest into us with renewed tokens of Thy
favour, and Thy momentary absence is forgotten in the overflowing
fulness of Thy blessing. We ourselves have had our dark hours and our
troubled days. Sometimes we have been thrust down into great gloom ;
we have not heard the going of the Lord in all the way of our life ; we
have sat in an afllicted silence, not knowing what Thou wast about to
do. Yet hast Thou proved Thyself, in the extremity of our wonder and
anxiety, the help of our countenance and our joy. When scornful men
were asking us, " Where is now thy God 1 " Thou hast come to us with
all the comfort and consolation of Thy grace. We will remember

168 THE CITY TEMPLE.

these things in the clays to come. We will not be driven about
by every vv^ind. We will know of a surety that our feet are
established upon a rock, and that Thou wilt retiirn unto us with
all the brightness and joy of Thy perfect power. We beseech Thee
to give us such realization of Thy presence in our life as shall save us
from distrust, as shall deliver us from unbelief, and as shall give us
steadiness of mind, constancy of heart, and determination of will, in all
that pertains to our lot. If Thou dost chastise, it is that Thou mayest
draw us more closely to Thyself. If Thou dost impoverish us, it is that
Thou mayest make us rich with riches which no thief can take away.
When Thou dost cast us down, it is that Thou mayest lift us up with an
exaltation that shall never decline. Help us to believe these things, and
we shall be strong. Help us to see Thine own Hand in all the growth
of our life, in all the shaping of our course, and whether it be light or
darkness I'oxind about us,« we shall hope steadfastly in God. Thou
knowest Thy purpose concerning us ; Thou knowest wherefore Thou
hast called us into our several positions in life ; Thou knowest the
measure of our power and the number of our faculties, our capabilities
of service and of endurance, and if we put ourselves into Thy hands.
Thou wilt surely deal graciously with us ; Thou wilt multiply the power
which we seek to use well, and wilt crown our life with Thine own bene-
diction. If for a moment we have been temjited to distrust Thee, Thou
hast tormented our soul because of the changefulness of our love. We
bless Thee for all the torment we have suffered, in so far as it has
recovered us to allegiance to Thy covenant, and brought us in supplica-
tion and penitential crying before the throne of Thy mercy. When we
have taken our life into our own keeping. Thou hast confounded our
purposes, and turned our wisdom into folly, and made us see how little
we are ; but when we have abased ourselves, and received our law at
Thy lips, and done according to Thy commandments. Thou hast made
us great in power. Thou hast enabled us to put a thousand to flight,
and in our weakness Thou hast magnified Thy great strengljh. Keep
us lowly in heart ; may we be meek in spirit, having no confidence
in ourselves, but having perfect trust in God. So shall our way be
opened before us, and men shall be given to know that the God whom
we serve is ever at our riajht hand. Amen.

Report op a SEavicE co>^ducted by

JOSEPH PAEKEE,

In the Poultry Chapel, on Thursday Morning, December 23rd, 1869.

After singing a hymn, tlie following passages of Scripture were
read : — <

" Unto us a Child is boru, uuto us a Son is given : and the government shall be
upon his shoulder : and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The
mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace."

" Behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.
Fo unto you is boru this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the
Itford."

' 'Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good-will toward men."

Blessed Saviour, Thou wast born unto us, may we be born unto Thee.
As there was joy on earth when it was said that unto us a Son was
born, so may there be joy in heaven when it is said that we have been
made by Thee sons of God. We would that Thou wert born in us the
hope of glory. We are begotten not of corruptible seed, but of incor-
ruptible, even by the Word of God, whicli livetli and abideth for ever.
In Thy life we live — in Thy eternity we find our immortality. We
bless Thee for having been born in the likeness of men, for coming near
us, for all the untold and inexhaustible blessing of Thy presence in our
daily lives. Thou wast born that we might be born : Thou didst become
a man, that our manhood might not be lost : Thou, didst come to earth
that we might ascend to Heaven, Blessed One, Anointed of God,
Thou didst become our omnipotent and ever-gracious Saviour, and we
praise Thee with our whole heart. We are safe because of Thine

15

170 THE CITY TEMPLK.

almightiiiess : our peace is assured by Thy rest ; our song will remain
because Thy joy is eternal. Make us glad in this hiding-place, may the
world not come within these walls, may we feel very near Thyself, and
know Tliy nearness by the purity and depth of our heavenly joy.
Creator, Redeemer, Spirit, dwell with us evermore. Amen.

ON THE PRIVATE MINISTRY OF THE GOSPEL,

Let us read together -pan of the first chapter of the Gospel by John,
commencing at the forty-fifth verse, and pausing to gather up such
thoughts as may be suggested by the Inspirer of the graphic and stimu-
lating incident : —

"Philip findeth Natlianael, and saith unto him, We have found him, of whom
Moses in the law, and the prophets, did write, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of
Joseph. "

Do you know how diflicult it is to preach to one hearer 1 I dare say
some of you young people who have a wish to be public speakers,
wonder how a man can stand before a thousand of his fellow-creatures
and speak to them boldly, with perfect self-possession and confidence.
Believe me, there is a higher courage than this ; namely, to speak to one
man about Jesus, to direct yoxir remarks to one heart, and to press your
urgent appeal upon the individual conscience. Philip spoke to Nathanael,
and in this fact I find an illustration of what may be called the Private
Ministry of the Gospel — a ministry between one man and another — a
ministry between friend and friend— and, I may add, a ministry peculiarly
suitable to this festive season, at which Christian civilization yields itself
to the spell of a special joy. To this higher courage we are all called —
to this private and direct ministry we are impelled by our own thank-
fulness for a revelation of the Son of God ; let us, therefore, endeavour
to discover the basis and the method of this lofty and most blessed
vocation.

I. The Christian Minister has a Distinct Message to deliver
TO the World.

Philip delivered such a message to Nathanael : "We have found Him

ON THE PRIVATE MINISTRY OF THE GOSPEL. 171

of wliom Moses in the law of the prophets did write, Jesus of Nazareth,
the Son of Joseph." The Christian Ministry takes its stand upon/ac^s.
We are not sent to conceive a theory to account for circumstances that
are around us ; we have not to strain our minds to work out a specu-
lation or to elaborate an argximent ; we have nothing to do with
dreaming or supposition ; fancy is not our business ; first of all,
midst of all, and last of all, we have to deal with facts. The Christian
teacher takes his stand upon a historic rock, and only as he does so
is he safe. Clearing the ground of everything, we point the
inquirer in the first instance to facts : Jesus Christ was born, Jesus
Christ lived, taught, died, rose again, — that is our. historic outline, and
we risk everything upon it ; then we ])roceed to show that this historic
outline has come out of a grand system of preparation, of prophecy, of
holy service as ordained of God. Nothing else a© completely, so gra-
ciously, and so gloriously meets all the points and designs of that initial
sj'stem, so we do not hesitate to identify all the divine elements of human
history with the person and work of Jesus Christ, and to claim for him
the title of Saviour and the throne of the One true King. Not only so.
To have W\q facts is one thing, but something more is required. Philip
did not say, Jesus Christ has been found; he said. We have found Him.
He himself sustained a personal relation to those facts, and this relation
was the secret of his power In a mighty ministry we find not only
high intellectual, bat also high emotional power ; the heart gives fire to
the thought. No man can preach with the truest success if he only
knoios the facts ; he must feel them as well as know them, and then
his tongue will not fail for words that find the • hearts of others.
Every pi-eacher, private or public, must, so to speak, individualise the
Gospel, must hitiiself represent the truths which he seeks to teach, and
by so much his ministry will addi-ess itself to the deepest life of those
who hear him. Knoio the Gospel if you would formally teach it ; but
love the Gospel if you would teach it with triumphant and blessed
effect. Truly, no man knows the Gospel, except as he loves it. To
know about it is one thing ; to have it reigning in the heart is another.
It may be replied that it is not every thing to know the meve facts of the
Gospel, and so it is undoubtedly, if you use the term " know " in its
most insufficient acceptation ; but as intended to be applied by me at
this moment, the term includes, not only the assent of the mind, but the
loving and undivided homage of tJie heart. We may know that a certain
man has arrived in London, and the knowledge may fail to excite a
single sensation in our nature ; but to those who have been expecting
and longing for him with most loving desire, his arrival is a blessing
which fills them with thankfulness and joy. So with Christ. We have

172 . TfiE CITY TEMPLE,

been seeking Him, waiting for Him, crying to God for tlie coming of
His blessed presence, and to-day the flict tliat we have found Him causes
us joy inexpressible and full of glory.

If the Church would be strong in her doctrines, she mixst be strong in
her facts. When she gets away from facts, she gets into dangerous
waters. I have no fear of speculation or of controversy so long as there
is a clear and grateful recognition of facts. We may be ti'usted to speciT-
late so long as we ai'e sure of the foundations ; but if we trifle with
the rock, we shall be the sport of the wildest dreaming, intoxicated with
our supp(>sed independence, whilst the fettei's of a cruel slavery are
being bound upon our feet.

IT. Isr Delivering His Message the Christian Minister will
Encounter Opposition.

Nathanael said to Philip, Can any good thing come out of Nazareth 1
This is opposition. We shall encounter opposition of various kinds.
The worldly-minded hearer will say, " I have enough to do in getting my
daily bi-ead. I have no tnist for spiritual concerns — away with your
preaching and dreaming, and let me make the best of the present life."
The speculative hearer will invite to controversy ; he will urge objec-
tion after objection ; it is not in his ethereal and sublime nature to
trifle away his time in reading history and considering facts ; he lives
on wings, he soars through the courses of the light, and inquires in the
upper cii'cles of fancy. He says, "Away with your historic realities
and your personal appeai'ances ; answer the wonders of ray imagination,
and satisfy the demands of my curiosity. I care not for your dry and
barren facts." All ministers have met such opposition, and it has
often been a hindrance to their ministiy ; but there is a deadlier opposi-
tion than this ! It is possible to drag the worldly-minded man fi-om the
altar of his dust-god, and to persuade him to think of higher concerns ;
possible to break the awful dominion of Mammon, and to liberate a
slave now and then at least ; it is possible, also, to teach the speciilator
to be sober in his claims, to descend from his aerial car, and to look
at events with the eye of temperate reason. But who can destroy
the power of ^jreywc/tce ? Can you define prejudice? You can give me
a derivation, but can jow give me a definition 1 What is prejudice,
where does it begin, how does it work, where does it end 1 You may
\\ii\efelt it, but can you de-ocribe it — define it? Take a prejudice against
a man, and he can never more do right in your eyes ; you will see a
colour u})on his purest deed, you will see a twist in his straightest course,
you will see a taint in his holiest motives. Take a prejudice against a

ON THE PRIVATE MIXISTRY OF THE GOSPEL. 173

minister, and tliougli lie gives his days to study and liis nights to prayer,
though every word be tried as men try fine gokl, yet you will
shudder at his presence, you will hear blasphemy in his prayers, you
will see hypocrisy in his appeals. Prejudice! What is prejudice?
A devil without figure, without address, without anything to lay
hold upon, — ever active, never visible ; always at hand, yet always in
secret, — a damnable and cruel force, yet hidden under a guise of respec-
tability. Give a prejudiced man an anonymous book, he may read it
with delight, he may exclaim by reason of joyous appreciation — hear
him ! " What exquisite diction ! What splendid painting ! What
gorgeous fancy ! What ruthless logic, — a grand and precious book ! "
Ask him — " Do you know who wrote it 1" He answers, iV'o. Tell him
that it was written by the man against whom he is so prejudiced, and
see the change. " Oh !" says he, '" I spoke under excitement, — I had
no time to form a deliberate opinion, — I spoke oif-handedly ; now that
I look at the thing quietly, there is really nothing in it ; it is exag-
gerated, turbid, artificial ; it is shallow in conception, and poor in
execution." Yes, he will say all that. Yes, he is willing to be
called a /ool I'ather than give credit to the man whom he dislikes.
Such is prejudice, — yet wh.'.c is prejudice 1 See it in the blinking of
a wicked eye, — see it in the curl of a bitter sneer, — hear it in a
subtly varied tone, — yet what is it 1 Define it, describe it, set it before
us, that we may see its hideousness, and hate it with all our heart !

Brethren, let us beware of prejudice ! Dislike a man, dislike his looks,
dislike his works, dislike the very ground on which he walks — but don't
give way to prejudice against Jesus Christ. Nathanael spoke of
Nazareth, and could not believe that any good could come out of it.
Prejudice may work in us also. Christianity awakens all kinds of preju-
dice,— prejudice of birth, of position, of education, of earthly taste : the
mangel-, the homelessness, the cross, all awaken prejudice ; and prejudice
may lead to our damnation. Plain words, — yes, plain, because ruin
should never be decorated, hell should never be decked with tempting
flowers.

III. The Christian Minister has a Most Practical Answer to
ALL Objections.

The answer of Philip was. Come and see. When men are thoroughly
in earnest they return these short, cutting replies to unexpected questions.
Had Philip retired to consider the best possiWe answer to the objec-
tions urged by Nathanael, probably he might have written something
that would have had the appearance of ai-gument and, conclusiveness ;

174 TUE CITY TEMPLE,

instead of that, he spoke out of the holy excitement of his heart, anc?
returned tlie best answer which could ^wssibly be given to a suggestion
such as Nathanael's. We do occasionally almost reach the point of
inspiration when we are engaged in the blessed service of the Son of
God ; questions that would puzzle ns in our cooler moments seem to be
easy of settlement when we are full of the spirit of our work ; it is given
unto us in the same hour what we shall say imto men, and oftentimes^
we ourselves are as much surprised at the answer as are those to whom
it is directed. I wish to point out in this connection that Philip returned,
not a speculative, but a pi-actical answer, to the objection of Nathanael.
"Come and see" is a better reply than "Let us reason upon the sub-
ject." Philip might have invited Nathanael to a long contention about
the unreasonableness of prejitdice, and might have shown him by many
instances that prejudice has often prevented men from reaching sound
and satisfactory conclusions on many questions in common life. Instead
of taking this roundabout course, he appealed to his interlocutor to come
and see the Saviour for himself. Yes, let that be observed ; it wj.s to the
Saviour that Philip sought to draw Nathanael. Let us be careful) how
we employ this expression, " Come and see ; " it is not come and see the
Church ; alas ! it is possible for men to look at the Church, and to feel a
sense of something like disgust in relation to the doctrines which that
Church professedly embodies ; in the Church there are wars and dissen-
sions, there are evil controversies which vex the heart and show them-
selves in the perverseness of life ; in the Church one teacher contradicts
another ; one sect brandishes its chosen weapon in the face of another ;
and there is much that looks like contradiction in the outworking of
ecclesiastical principles and relationships. A man must be a very good
man indeed before he can quite understand the working of Church organi-
zations. It is only after he has held long and sweet intercourse with Christ
that he is enabled to look upon discrepancies, and to regard clamour's in theii"
true light. Observe, too, that we are not at liberty to urge men to come
and see our literature : if a man should be a very good man indeed before he
can be trusted to look upon the Church as an institution, he ought to be
almost an angel before he be invited to form an opinion about much of
our literature. We who are akeady engaged in the production and cir-
culation of that literature, may know how to estimate its excellencies ;
we can make allowance because of our knowledge of the general
character of those who are concerned in that literature ; but for a young
inquiring Christian to look upon it, the probability would be, that by the
brawling, the misinterpretation, the censoriousness of which he might
discover traces, his heart might be turned away from those great prin-
ciples in which alone he could find salvation. Nor are we at liberty to

ON THE PRIVATE MINISTRY OF THE GOSPEL. 175

say to the Nathanaels of our own age, Come and see the preacher. No
one preacher can preach the Gospel in all its fulness and with all its
sweetness. The true preacher of Jesus Christ is not one man, but the
whole ministry of the Gospel. Individual men excel in special depart-
ments— one is mighty in controversy, another is tender in appeal, a
third is impressive in worship, a fourth is exact in criticism ; but if we
would know what the Gospel is in its entireness (if that be possible
on earth), we must hear all the servants of Jesus Christ, and regard
their teaching as one grand exliibition of Divine truth. We are not a*
liberty to set one preacher against another as the man who alone repre-
sents Jesus Christ and His truth. We must go beyond the servant, and
show the inquirer the Lord Himself. Philip invited Nathanael to see
Jesus Christ, not to look at the disciples, but to look at the Master.
This is, above all things, what we desire. Once get men thoroughly to
study Jesus Christ Himself, and there can be little or no do\tbt of the
result. We invite you to put aside everything that you may have heard
about Chi'ist. We encourage you in the meantime to set aside all early
association and all pre-conceived ojiinion, and to go to the Gospels in
which the story of Jesus Christ is detailed, and to read solemnly and con-
tinuously wliat is said about Him by the inspired writers. Nay, if
possible, get beyond the reading into the spirit. And what will the
consequence be 1 I say it with gratitude and joy, that never did I know
a single case in which an inquirer deeply studied the life of Jesus Christ,
without rising from its perusal with admiration, thankfulness, and
delight. But to know what Jesus Christ really is, we must go to Him
when we need Hiui most. We may go to Him in our speculative
moods, and He may be to us silent ; we may go to Him merely for the
sake of making of His principles a momentary convenience, and we may
be driven to jironounce them insufficient ; but when we go to Him in sin
and in penitence for our transgressions, and with an earnest loving heart
beseech Him to show Himself unto us, we are never left in doubt of His
omnipotence and graciousness. I would charge it upon myself as upon
you who preach the Gospel, either pi'ivately or publicly, that we are
bound to urge men to come and see the Saviour Himself. This is our
blessed ministiy. We have a short message to the world. We have a
decisive answer to objections — we have to hide ourselves in the glory of
our Master.

rV'. When the Practical Answer of the Christian Minister
IS Received, the most Blessed Piesults are Realized.

We have just heard Nathanael say. Can any good thing come out of

176 THE CITY TEMPLE.

Nazareth : lie has accepted the iuvitation of Philip to see the Saviour
for himself, and now what does he say 1 Hear his wonderful exclama-
tion : " Rabbi, Thou art the Sou of God ; Thou art the King of Israel."
Look at the extreme points of this experience of Nathanael. At the
beginning he puts the question of prejudice ; he shows himself to be
narrow-minded, exclusive, and childish — at the end he expands into a
noble and magnanimous character. It is even so with all men who
stand afar off from Jesus Christ, and trouble themselves about questions
of absolutely no importance. So long as they look at places and at
merely incidental circumstances, they quibble and contend in unworthy
strife of words ; but as soon as they go to the Saviour and see Him as He
really is, they forget, in their glowing delight, the prejudices of earlier
inquiry. And how did Nathanael come to this decision concerning the
Person of Jesus Christ? Whilst Nathanael was approaching, Jesus
Christ said to those who were round about, "Behold an Israelite indeerl,
in whom there is no guile " He gave ISTathanael at once to feel that he
was fully abreast of his history, that He knew him altogether, and that
He could instantly commence conversation on the profoundest themes.
This is the great power which Jesus Christ has over all men. He asks
us no questions concerning our antecedents. lie is not dependent upon
our answers for His knowledge of the state of our minds ; before we
speak to Him He reads our heart in. its deepest experiences ; theee is
not a phase of our being on which He has not looked ; and I take you
to witness that you have never gone to the New Testament without
finding in it a spirit of judgment that instantly called up your whole
life, and commented correctly upon its moral value. How intense must
have been the joy of Philip, as he stood aside and watched the progress
of this interview ! We who are ministers of the Cross have had similar
joy in the course of our ministry ; we have seen man after man give up
his prejudices in exchange for loving homage and life-long consecration.
We have felt the blessedness of being enabled to turn men away from
ourselves, and to fix their attention upon Jesus Christ. If it had been
required of us to answer all their questions, to remove all their pre-
judices, and to satisfy all their curiosity, we should undoubtedly have
failed in our means ; but we have felt ourselves to be but called
upon to point to the Lamb of God ; the question was not to
rest with ourselves ; we said to those who came to us with
prejudices and with difficulties, all things are possible with God —
take all these to Him, lay them before Him just as they affect
your own heart, and see whether the light of His countenance cannot
dispel the clouds v/hich intervene between youi'selves and the infinite
beauty. I would press it upon all ministers of the Gospel, upon ail

ON THE PRIVATE MINISTRY OF THE GOSPEL. 177

missionaries of the Cross, upon all who teach the truth as it is in Jesus
Christ, that in the long run we shall have a joy such as Philip had when
he saw the prejudiced man become the eni-aptured worshipper. We
have our difficulties, our discouragements now ; often we feel as if the
work were perishing in o'lr hands ; again and again it seems as if the
prejudices of the world were too strong for us ; yet there are times when
we see those prejudices so manifestly dissipated, and objections so clearly
confounded, as to leave no doubt upon our minds that Jesus Christ is the
same yesterday, to-day, and for ever, and that He can do for all men
what He did so graciously in the case of Nathanael. I am only afraid
that in some of our cases we take too much upon ourselves in the way of
answering objection. It is quite yjossible for conti'oversy to become a
temptation to the Chi'istian teachei*. He may imagine that by careful
and iirgent argument he may be able to counteract prejudice and to put
men in a right state of thinking. I am. more and more convinced that
our safety and our success in this work, to which our lives have been
committed, depends entirely upon our distrust of all that is merely
hu nan. Insist upon men going to Jesus Christ and obtaining a personal
interview with Him. Risk the results of your ministry upon a
thorough scrutiny of the life of Jesus Christ as presented in the four
gospels. Protest against any man raising questions outside that life
until he has at least made himself master of all its details as given in
the New Testament. We are bound to see that no trespass is made.
As soon as the inquirer has really exhausted the Gospel narrative and
made himself acquainted with the spirit and scope of Jesus Christ's
ministry, he may be permitted to go into abstract questions in theology ;
but first of all, and until he has completely succeeded, he must be shut
up within the limits of Jesus Christ's personal life and ministry upon
the earth. I do not know why I should hesitate to say that Jesus
Christ's life becomes to me a new life every day. According to my in-
creasing capacity does the revelation of His truth and beauty increase
upon me. To the little child Jesus himself is still a babe, and to the
most mature thinker Jesus Christ stands in the relation of an all-suffi-
cient Teacher. Herein is the surpassing wonderfulness of this unique life.
We can never exhaust it ; it grows with our growth ; the light increases
with our power of vision ; and we never find the end of the perfection
of the Son of God. I think that these personal testimonies oiight to be
considered as of some value. I do not ask you now to follow me in any
course of abstract argument in proof of these things ; I choose rather in
the spirit of the text to put my own personal experience and conclusions
before you, and to testify these things in my own name.

Does any man who now heai's me say that he feels himself in the

178 THE CITY TEMPLE. .

position of Natlianael simply waiting to be called to see Jesus Christ ?
Hear me, then — from this moment your plea is gone! Never
repeat that excuse. In the ])resence of God and of His holy angels, I
now take it iipon me to stand to you in the relation of Philip, and to call
upon you to come and see for yourselves Him of whom Moses in the law
and the prophets did write. Let there be no misunderstanding upon
this matter, because I intend to break up your self-excusing, and to leave
you without, ground of delay. Today you hear the invitation : it is for
you to reply ; but whether you reply or not, the plea that you are simjdy
waiting to be called is now and for ever removed. Perhajjs, however,
you ai'e saying that you do not wait to be addressed simply as a member
of a large congregation, but you wish to be privately spoken to, so that
you may {jut before the speaker your personal difficulties whatever, they
be. Let me remind you of a fact in connection with this story of
Nathanael which ought to save you from the consequences of such
]ileading : " Before that Philip called thee when thou wast under the
fig-tree, I saw thee." You need not wait for the servant when the eye
of the Master is already upon you. The very fact that He is looking at
you should constitute the most potent appeal that can be addressed
to your spiritual nature. It is our joy to preach that Jesus Christ is
still with His disciples, that they never work alone, that He goes with
them confirming their words, and in many ways displaying the effect of
His presence. If I now address any man who is in secret making
inquiries regarding the Christian life, or who is feeling the pressure of
any special temptation to turn away from religious pursuits, I would
urge upon him the truth that Jesus Christ Himself is looking into the
very depths of his nature, and is waiting to meet all the hunger of his
heart with all the sufficiency of grace. Remember that Jesus Christ
is the minister of His own Gospel, and that even though no servant of His
may ever speak to us directly in His name. He himself is causing to
operate upon us influences without number, which we may often mistake
for the agencies of ordinary life. The fact that Jesus Christ sees us as
He saw Nathanael in solitude, and that He knows our heart-aching and
deep desire, should draw us towards Himself in reverent inquiry and
tender love.

The rejjly which Jesus Christ made to ISTathanael gives us a hint of
the evei'-expanding sufficiency and glory of Chiistian truth ; — with a tone
that had in it somewhat of surprise, Jesus Christ said to Nathanael,
Because 1 said unto thee I saw thee under the fig tree, believest thou ?
And then He added, " Thou shalt see greater things than these." Jesus
Christ seems ever to have acted upon a principle of increasing His
revelations, and not of diminishing them. Because then hast seen
creation, believest thou — thou shalt see greater things than these, thou

ON THE PRIVATE MIXISTRY OF TUE GOSPEL. 17'J

shalt see tlie Creator Himself ! The snn and tlie stars, the forest and
the sea, the great mountain and the fertile vale, ai'e but alphabetic, and
he who looks upon them with a right design shall be called to higher
revelations still — " Because thou hast seen events thou hast believed ;
thou hast seen a power in society giving shape and tendency to
events that appeared to be confused and without meaning ; thou hast
put things togethei", and out of their union hast come to a conclusion
that there is a providence that shapes our ends ; thou hast found in the
busy streets that men were moving in order, that they only appeared to
be struggling in confusion, and that the affairs of men, after all, were
moving round a centre that was keeping them in their places and
working out in them some great beauty ; thou hast seen these things,
and thou, in so far, hast been a believer in God ; thou shalt see
greater things than these, it shall be thy joy to believe that not
a sparrow falleth to the ground without thy Father, that the
very hairs of thy head are all numbered, and that there is
not Otoe grain of dust in the universe which bears not the impress of
God's ownership : because thou hast seen the Bible, the written record, —
the nrevQ letter, — thou hast believed ; tnie, indeed, thou hast been baffled
by much that appeared discrepant and insufficient ; many a time thou
hast Veen puzzled and pei-plexed by things in the record which appeared
to be beyond reconciliation, and of which no man can give thee a mean-
ing that satisfieth thy heart, — thou shalt see greater things than these ;
f] om the letter thoix shalt pass to the spirit ; the book itself shall be
forgotten in a still higher gift ; thou shalt lose inspiration in the
Inspirer Himself. This is the stimulating language in which Jesus Christ
addresses all true inquirers. You never can find the end of Divine
revelation. The New Testament has no final page. We come to what
we consider to be the end, and lo ! the end is more suggestive than the
beginning ; and where we expected to pause we find that it is only to
pause on our feet that we may stretch the wings of a higher being, and
soar in the loftier regions of Divine manifestation and govei-nment.
Jesus Christ said to Nathanael, Hei'eafter thou shalt see ; — yes,
Christianity has not only a gi'eat past,' it has a great future. Hereafter
thou shalt see ! I venture to say that no man who is deeply learned in
the Christian life is of opinion that he has reached the final line of
Divine revelation. He is evermore given to feel that God is able to
do exceeding abundantly above all that has yet been realized. This
is our encouragement as Christian students, yet this brings us into
a deep humility of spirit because we are given to feel, that however
vast may be our attainments, we are still but little children in the
great school of the universe. To increase, therefore, in the knowledge
of God is to increase in lowliness of mind ; yet whilst our humility

180 THE CITY TEMPLE,

deepens we are not driven into despair, for the gloiy of God is
not the terror, but the inspiration, of humble souls. It is not
uncommon for men who criticise Christianity adversely to talk of the
Christian revelation as if it were complete, as if nothing more were to
be shown to the Cliristian mind ; we venture to say that the Christian
revelation itself is yet in its beginning, and that it hath not
entered into the heart of man to conceive how much light and
truth there is yet to break out of God's Holy "Word, and how
extensive and profound is the ministry of the Holy Ghost in the heart
of man. I cannot preach the doctrine of finality in connection with the
Cross. 1 believe we have yet but seen the dim outline of Jesus Christ's
truth— that we are standing in the grey twilight, and that the time of
the full shining of the sun has not as yet arrived. " What thou knowest
not now, thou shalt know hereafter," is a doctrine which the most advanced
student may rely upon as a stimulus to further study. We know in part,
and in part only ; towards that which is perfect we are called upon to move
with patience and with sure hope. Sinful man ! Thou too hast a here-
after. Art thou prepared for the to-morrow that is before thee 1 Thou hast
further revelation of the Divine throne to receive ; what if it come to
thee in thunder and lightning, and great tempests of judgment 1 I would
speak to thee tenderly about- this hereafter; for it can be no joy to
Christian hearts to foretell the ruin of human souls ; but believe me
that whilst Christian inquirers are joyfully anticipating the bright here-
after which Jesus Christ has promised to them, those who are not in
Christ ought solemnly to consider how far they are prepared for the
hereafter which will surely transpire. I do not seek to frighten any
man into virtue ; he who is frightened into a new life may be frightened
out of it again. My hope is in love ; but you have understanding
enough of ordinary life to apprehend me when I say that love itself is
bound to disclose all the realities of the case. Among the realities of
your case, so far as I read the New Testament and interpret the mind of
Christ, is a fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation if
you have not fled to the Cross and laid hold upon it as the answer to
your sin. This is plain speaking, because the case is plain ; this is
direct appeal, because in such cases ambiguity would bring upon the
speaker the just charge of exposing human souls to death.

SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT.

On Thursday, January 6th, 1870, the first of a series of Parables
will be delivered in the Poultry Chapel, service commencing at
the usual hour, — Twelve o'clock.

C|e €it^ Cample.

% H arable

ON CHRISTIAN FAITH,

BY

JOSEPH PARKER.

DELIVERED

In the Poultry Chapel, on Thursday Morning, January 6th, 1870.

A river has special charms for me — always arriving, always departing ;
softening the landscape, and completing the circle of the firmament ;
rich with manifold reflections, and eloquent with the sad yet soothing
minor in which all Nature speaks in her gentlest moods. I love to
tarry by the river-side, to look, to listen, to wonder, and to feel the
pleasant unrest of constant expectation. Standing by a river, one seems
to be on the edge of another world — life, motion, music — signs that tell
of speed, gliding and darting, that look as if activity had solved the
mystery of industrious repose ; breaking bubbles that hint at something
of incompleteness and disappointment ; occasional floodings and rushings
that tell of power under control, — all are seen in that flowing world. It
was whilst indulging' this, perhaps, eccentric taste, that I came unex-
pectedly upon a sceptical friend, who was seeking quietness after a most
exciting study of what he deemed a triumphant refutation of the Christian
argument. It was through no mere stubbornness of mind that my friend
often ranged himself on the side of religious doubt. He had high
natural veneration ; his regard for the convictions of other j^eople was
even scrupulously respectful ; there was nothing coarsely demonstrative
in his way of putting the arguments on which his doubt rested ; he was
thoughtful, modest, and sincere. ^His scepticism was in part due, strange
as it may appear, to his early association with very religious people —
people whose notions were dogmatic and final — who had themselves never

16

182 THE CITY TEMPLE.

known a doubt, and who, consequently, regarded even the most diffident
and unwilling doubt in others as a sure sign of a perverted intellect and
a ruined heart. The infallibility of this finalism was most obnoxious to
a man so strong-minded, so inquisitive, and so earnest. It is not diffi-
cult to understand that, in the course of his perplexity, he came to feel
a sense of gladness when a mind acuter than his own succeeded in
throwing a doubt upon the Christian argument. He would never
■willingly suffer that argument to be merely vilified; he demanded
reasoning, he insisted upon candour, and, with a sensibility most credit-
able to his moral nature, he shrank from every assault that was
directed by a desire to sneer, or by ambition to excel, in mere
controversy. He was rather a speculative than a moi'al doubter.
He did not seek to throw down Christianity, that he might
sin with wider licence. Christianity was not a spectre that terri-
fied his conscience, but a problem that mocked or tormented his
intellect. So many questions came back \ipon him unanswered, if not
resented, so many shadows thickened upon his path when he turned
aside from the highway of orthodoxy, and so many reputable men
yielded him but partial confidence, that at last he was even thankful
for occasional refuge in the most gloomy and chilling vaults of doubt.
I knew his history, and could therefore approach him with the delicacy
which was necessary to secure his confidence. Knowing how much
easier it is to defend doubt than to teach it, I preferred, after hearing his
account of the book he had been reading, to put myself in the position
of a scholar rather than that of a teacher, and to find my way cautiously
to the ground on which I could most directly and successfully appeal to
him.

I could see that, after all, he was not free from trouble in his gladness.
A shadow seemed to lie across his joy. He was rather forcing himself
into conviction than yielding without reluctance to a strong and
confident persuasion. He wanted rest, and for the moment it seemed
as if doubt would give him the peace which he could not find in faith.
By a few careful inquiries and suggestions I got him to begin the more
formal statement of his case at a very important point : —

" If I am to be saved hy faith," said he, " then I shall never be saved
at all."

"Why not?" I inquired.

" Because I cannot believe."

" Do you mean, then, that you have no faculty, if I may so express
myself, no faculty of faith — don't you believe anything ?"

" I don't believe Christianity," said my friend, with somewhat of
reluctance in his tone.

A PARABLE ON CHRISTIAN FAITH, 183

" That may be ; but, apart from that altogether, don't you believe
anything in all the world ? — mark, I say anything ?"

" Of course, I believe a good deal ; but what has that to do
with believing Christianity ? "

" Wait a moment," said I ; "in the meantime you say that you do
believe a good many things, so that you have the power of faith, or the
faculty of faith, as I just now called it. Now, will you tell me what
faith is?"

" Faith is belief"

" But what is belief?"

" Allowing a thing to be true is belief, I should say."

" Then, don't you allow Christianity to be true 1"

" I will go so far as to say that it may be true, for anything I know ;
but whether it is true or not, I cannot believe it — that is to say, I cannot
see how faith can save a man ; I can understand how virtue can save a
man, but not how he can be saved by faith ; it seems a disproportionate,
and, in fact, an outrageous condition."

" I see; now you are narrowing the'ground. With regard to the facts
of the Christian religion, you decline to offer an opinion at present ; you
say they may be true or may not be true, for aught you know ; but even
allowing them to be true, you don't see how faith in them can be the
condition upon which men are saved. Is that your position ?"

" It is. Jesus Christ may have lived and died, and done everything
just as the New Testament says He did ; but even allowing all that, I
cannot see what my believing it has to do with my present or future
happiness."

" Well, we now have a clear issue before us. Pardon me if I digress
for a moment : How long has your brother been in the colonies ?"

" Full seven years."

" Why did he leave England ?"

" He felt it would be for the good of his family, if he tried one of the
colonies."

" That is to say, he believed that it would be for the good of hi."
family?"

« Yes."

" Very well ; then, according to your own mode of putting the case,
the word ' felt ' may be occasionally used instead of the word ' believed '
—is it so?"

" It is."

" Well, let that be remembered. Pardon me, if I ask another ques-
tion : Did you not offer to sell two of your fields a few weeks ago ? "

" Yes."

184 THE CITY TEMPLE.

" Why did you offer to sell them?"
" I thought it would be well to-

" Excuse me ; I don't care to know the reason ; but when you say
you ' thought ' it would be well, you mean you ' believed ' it would be
well — did you not ?"

" Certainly."

" Then here is another word which may be occasionally used instead
of believed ; so that we have two words with which faith is inter-
changeable— 'we felt,' * we thought,' may be equivalent to ' we believed'
— ^you see that ? "

" Yes, of course."

" Still, you cannot see how faith can be necessary to salvation V

" No."

" Yet, I think you are getting a point nearer. Now, look up the
river ; don't you see the ferry moving across 1"

" Yes."

" Do you believe it is moving to the other side V

" Of course."

" Do you see anybody in it 1 "

" Several people are in it."

" Did they believe the feriy was going across the river, when they got
into if?"

" I suppose so, else they would not have got into it."

" Stop ! Does that follow 1 You say you believe it is going over to
the other side ; yet, though you believe that, you don't go in it V

" No ; because I don't want to go."

" Precisely ; still you see that the mere belief that the ferry was
going across the river did not caiise the people to get into it ; there was
more than simple acknowledgment of a fact. Now, you will say that
the people wanted to cross the river, and therefore they got into the
ferry— is that sol"

" Of course ; they wanted to go, and consequently they got in."

" Pardon me ; you say * consequently.' Now, it strikes me that there
is a link wanting; is there not 1"

" Nay ; the thing is clear enough : the people wanted to go across,
and they got into the ferry."

" Let me, then, ask you a question : Suppose that the people did not
believe that the ferry was going across the river, would they liave
got in ? "

" Of course not."

" Then even so * disproportionate and outrageous ' a ilung a.s belief hskd
something to do with their being in the boat 1"

A PARABLE ON CHRISTIAN FAITH. 185

"No doubt of it."

" The people wanted to go, but the mere wanting to go would not
carry them over ; they must have an opportunity of getting across, and
even the opportunity would be useless, unless they really believed that it
vms an opportunity. Do you go with me thus far '?"

" I do, of course."

" Then let us see how the case stands. The people wanted to cross ;
there was a boat to carry them ; they really believed that the boat was
going across ; but now, supposing that at the last moment they believed
that the boat was not strong enough to carry them, would they go 1 "

" Probably not ; if they really thought that the boat would break
down, of course they would not go."

" Here, then," said I, " 'belief comes in, and plays an important
part ; and now the case stands thus : there must be a felt want ; there
must be an opportunity of supplying that want ; there must be belief in
the intended destination of the boat ; and there must be faith in its
strength to meet the requirements of the occasion. The want would not
be enough ; the opportunity would not be enough ; the belief woxild not
be enough. Is this so ?"

" I don't see," said my friend, " how it can be otherwise."

" Very well ; but so far we have put the case as if it were all on one
side ; let us break it up into its relative proportions. Part of it belongs
to the ferryman, part to the people. The ferryman says, in effect, — ' I
am going to the other side of the river ; there is room in the ferry for a
hundred persons ; it is a strong boat, and every way well suited for its
work ; he that believeth let him come.' The people's part is to consider
the fen-yman's statement, and to ground their action upon it ; and every
one who avails himself of the opportunity of crossing, virtually says, * I
believe.' Do you see any flaw in this statement?"

My friend admitted that he did not, and continued — " But supposing
the people did not believe the ferryman, how then ] "

" Why, of course they would not go ; still the argument would go
dead against your first position, for it would still be a question of belief.
The people wanted to go, they had an opportunity of going, but simply
because they did not believe in the man who olfered the opportunity,
they remained behind ; now, the ferryman might hold such language as
this, 'He that believeth may go ; he that believeth not will be left,' —
might he not say this 1 "

" He might, certainly, with all propriety, too."

" Well, and suj^pose that on reaching the other side of the river the
ferryman should be asked why some were left behind, what explanation
couid he offer ?"

186 TUE CITY TEMPLE.

" He would, of coui'se, say that those who were left behind did not
believe him ; and what I want to know is, whether they had not a
perfect right to disbelieve him 1 The whole thing, as I see it, turns
upon that qiiestion."

" Then," said I, " as you attach so much importance to that question,
instead of answering you, I shall give you an opportunity of answering
yourself. You saw the agent who visited the town a few "years ago, for
the purpose of getting shareholders in the new County Bank?"

" I did."

" Did you take any shares 1 "

" I took ten ; did you take any 1 "

" No. Did they pay you, may I ask ?"

" They paid well — paid better, in fact, than any other shares I ever
had."

" Well, I refused to take any, because I did not believe the repre-
sentations which the agent made ; and had I not a perfect right to dis-
believe him 1 "

"You had."

" But how does it come that I have not been enriched by the under-
taking 1 "

" Because you did not go into it.'

" But had I not a perfect right to refuse to go into it ? "

" Of course you had ; but if you did refuse, you cannot expect to
share the benefits which accrue from it."

" Precisely ; and that is the answer to your own question : the people
who did not believe the fei'ryman did not go in the boat, and though
they had a perfect right to remain behind, the only right they now have
is to reproach themselves for unbelief, and not to rail against the faith
of other people."

" That is true, certainly," said my fiiend ; " but what I want to
know is, why cannot men be saved whatever they may believe or not
believe 1 "

" That is a great question," said I ; " and we may, perhaps, most
successfully work our way to the answer, by beginning with the secular
side of life. I would beg you, then, to dismiss from your mind all
theological terms, and, if possible, all theological prejudices. You
i-emember the man who once threw discredit upon your word, whea
you made some statement about town affairs in the newspapers ] "

" Yes, I remember."

" Do you ever invite that man to your table 1 "

" Certainly not."

" But why do you say that so firmly ? "

A PARABLE ON CHRISTIAN FAITH. 167

" Because the man almost called me a liar in the public prints."

" You mean that he did not believe your word, and that he openly
expressed his disbelief]"

" Yes."

" But why should the man be deprived of your hospitality, whatever
he may believe or may not believe ] "

" But what confidence can I have in him? "

" Ah ! there is another word which you make equivalent to faith,
that is the word ' confidence ; ' now, what do you mean by having
' confidence ' in a man V

" I mean trusting him and respecting him as a man of honour."

" Quite so ; but if you knew that he did not believe in obligation or
in social honour, coiild you trust him 1 "

" Certainly not."

" But what I want to know is, why you cannot trust him, whatever
he may believe or may not believe 1 "

" Because I should think that if he did not believe in honour, he
would not care to maintain it."

" Exactly, my friend ; now we are at the root of this part of the
matter : we now begin to see that faith is the inspiration of life — that
is, that men's behaviour is, so to speak, but an outside thing ; there is
something under it which governs and directs it — the act is the body,
the thought is the soul — man's life is an efiect, faith is the cause. How
far do I carry you with me % "

" I see, that if a man is honest, he won't do a thing imless he believes
in it."

" Quite so ; and you might safely go a step further, and say, the man
who did a thing without believing it was a hypocrite, and that the man
who believed a thing and did not do it was unfaithful to himself, and
that the man who believed in a thing and did the very opposite was
acting wickedly 1 — can you say this 1 "

"■ I don't see why I should not say every word of it."

" But, to make the whole thing clearer," I continued, " let us look a
little into the ways of men ; if there are not various kinds of faith, there
are certainly various phases of it. Look at the farmer ; what sustains
him during seedtime and harvest 1 "

'• No doubt, the expectation of a good crop."

"Truly."

" But you see," my friend interposed, with somewhat of triumph in
his tone, ''he had known that through hundreds and thousands of years
the thing had gone on in a certain order."

" Well, be it so ; but suppose that before seedtime he had wrought

188 THE CITY TEMPLE.

himself to the belief that, in this particular year, there would be bad
"wheat crops, would his belief influence his action, or would it not 1 "

" Of course it would influence his action ; he would be foolish to go
in the face of his belief."

" Very good ; now that is case number one — the farmer works by
faith. Your friend, the iron-merchant, consigned ten thousand pieces
of cast-iron to an agent in Melbourne — actually sent them to a man he
had never seen — how do you account for that 1 "

" No doubt he felt convinced that the transaction would turn out all
right," my friend replied.

"Really," said I, "you have given me another word — presently, we
shall be able to set up a vocabulary apai't from theological technicalities
— you say ' convinced ' instead of ' believed,' and the word is well
chosen. Now I have three equivalent words given to me by yourself —
' felt,' ' thought,' ' convinced ;' but the point to be kept in view is, that
the iron-merchant, in sending ten thousand pieces of iron to a man he
had never seen, and probably never would see, actually did the business
on faith "

"Perhaps," my friend eagerly suggested, "he got the money first ;
then, where was the faith 1 "

" The faith, then," said I, " was on the side of the other contracting
party ; the man who sent the money first, must have had faith that
the iron would be forthcoming. What I want you to see is, that the
transaction could not have taken place without faith, either on one side
or the other ; do you admit that 1 "

" Certainly."

" Yery well, then, we may call that case number two, and say the
merchant walks by faith. Will you now tell me what sent Columbus
over the sea to discover if there was a continent in the Far West 1 "

" Of course he felt persuaded that there was land out there."

" That is a fourth word — ' persuaded ' — equivalent, as you used it,
to ' believed.' Here, again, we have faith ; in the absence of faith
Columbus would not have gone ; but the faith was so strong that he
could not rest until he had carried out his plan. Do you acknowledge
this?"

" I see no reason to deny it," my friend replied.

"Then we may call that case number three, and say the explorer
walks by faith.- Now, to come nearer home. Why did you marry
your present wife in preference to every other woman 1 — excuse the
question, and answer it, if you please."

" Because I believed her to be the woman best suited, in every
respect, for me."

A PARABLE ON CHRISTIAN FAITH. 189

" Once more, then, we liave faith as the basis of action ; but why
could you not have man-ied some other person, whatever you believed
or did not believe about her?"

" That would have been impossible ; because, if I had not believed well
of her, I could not have married her."

" Your answer is correct, and we may put it down as case number
four, that you yourself do, in the most important affairs in life, Avalk by
faith. Do you see this 1 "

" I see it so far clearly, but I don't see why I should be excluded
from heaven, simply because I don't believe what other people believe ;
I may be as good as they are, whatever I believe."

" Wait ! Don't jump to false conclusions. Recollect the case of the
ferry : the people were excluded from it, simply because they did not
believe. Think of the bank shaves : I was excluded from profits, because
I did not believe, and therefore did not take shares ; so that it seems
people are excluded from advantages, simply and solely because they do
not believe. That point is certain. It is a law of societj^, and nobody
complains of it. So much for one side of your objection ; it now remains
to be shown that your acceptation of the term ' faith ' is narrow, and by
so much untrue. You seem to imagine that it is simply a matter of
intellectual assent, and so far you are perfectly right in imagining
that intellectual assent is an insufficient condition of salvation ; but now
go back to daily life for definition and illustration of faith. Keep to the
case of the people and the ferry ; they were told that the ferry was going
across the river ; would their mere intellectual assent have taken them
to the other side 1 "

" Certainly not," said my friend.

" But they believed that the boat was going ?"

" Certainly ; but they did not act upon their belief."

" That is the very point," said I ; "so you see it is not mere belief, but
belief acted upon, that is meant by the term faith. I may believe that
if I put a thousand pounds in the bank, I shall receive so much per
cent., but, unless I act upon my belief, I shall not receive the interest.
You may say that this is salvation by works, but it is not ; the works
are the result of faith ; but for the faith the works would never have
been attempted, so that the cause, and not the effect, must give its name
to the process."

" But why should I be excluded from heaven, because I do not
believe ? "

" Precisely, only in infinitely higher degree, on the same principle
that you exclude persons from your hospitality who do not believe in
you."

T90 THE CITY TEMPLE.

" Explain yourself," said my friend.

" You said, a few moments ago, that you married your wife because
you thought her every way suitable for you, did you not 1 "

" I did."

" Now, I don't believe a word you said on the subject."

My friend looked aghast, and said, "^You amaze me !"

" Did you not explain how it was that your brother went to the
colonies t "

" I did."

" Now, I don't believe a word you said on that subject either."

My friend turned pale, and looked at me eagerly, saying, as he looked,
" Whatever do you mean"?"

" I mean, just that I don't believe a word you say; I reject your
testimony."

My friend rose, and with undisguised feeling said, " Then, the sooner
we part the better ! "

I answered, " Hold ! why should I be excluded from your society,
whatever I believe or do not believe 1 "

" You can have no pleasure in my society, if you do not trust me, nor
can I have any in yours."

" Thank you," said I ; " sit down. I was putting you to the test, for I
knew that your creed wovild break down at the practical point. I want
you to see that more depends upon faith, even in the common relations
of life, than is generally supposed ; and, from what you know of the
every-day affairs of life, I want you to reason upward to the highest con-
siderations of character and destiny. Meanwhile, one thing is clear : you
would exclude me from your society, simply on the ground that I do not
believe you ; now, why should God admit people to His society who
treat His Word as if it wei'e a lie, and His Son as if He were an
impo.stor 1 "

"But what if they do not believe that it is His Word? — that is
my argument," said my friend.

I stopped him there, saying, " That question is not now before us ; we
shall come to that by-and-bye ; the question immediately before us,
which you yourself started at the beginning of our interview, relates to
the necessity and efficacy of faith as a condition of salvation. I miist
insist upon our being at one on that point before we proceed further."

My friend paused, as if not knowing what to reply. I knew the
transparency and perfect candour of his mind ; that it was not in him to
quibble for quibbling's sake, and my whole heart went out with great
solicitude towards him. I saw that the opportunity was mine, and I
said, " Now let me preach you a short sermon on the subject of our con-

A PARABLK ON CHRISTIAN FAITH 19 1

versation. The fact is, that faith underlies the whole system of life — you
cannot send a boy on an errand without faith ; you cannot employ pro-
perty without faith ; you cannot sow seed without faith ; you can neither
eat, drink, nor sleep without faith ; you cannot take a journey without
faith. As I have just said, it penetrates the whole system of life • it
keeps men together ; it renders intercourse a means of blessinw, and
saves solitude from despaii-. As we have now defined it, faith is not
mere assent to a number of jDropositions ; it is, as you say, feelino-,
thinking, persuasion, conviction ; it means more than sentiment, more
than negative approval ; it takes up the whole nature, and bears it
forward with all the conquering energy of a divine inspiration. I think
too, it was most gracious on the part of Christ to m&ke faith the basis of
acce])tance on His part. He found men believing ; He found them in
all the lower concerns of life walking by faith, and instead of intro-
ducing a new and revolutionary law, He took men's nature as He found
it, and said, ' Ye believe in God ; believe also in Me.' Men complain
because the apostle says, ' Without faith it is impossible to please God ; '
but why should they complain 1 Without faith it is equally impossible
to please man. Just now, when I said that I did not believe you, you
suggested that our intercourse should cease, thereby showing that with-
out faith it was impossible to please you ; why, then, should it be deemed
so extraordinary, or, as you say, so disproportionate and outrageous a
thing, that God should require exactly what man himself requires 1 "

My friend here intimated that he still wished to argue the question
which he had just proposed ; but as the June sunset was far advanced,
and we both had a considerable distance to walk, though in different
directions, I tald him that we had better defer further conversation until
we had more time at command. He was good enough to say —

" You talk to me so humanly ; you do not stand off and command me
haughtily ; you touch my life, and compel me to say things to you that I
never said to any other man."

I thanked him. " I tell you what it is, friend," I continued, " the
Gospel is not something that is superimposed upon man ; it reveals man to
himself; it gives articulation to the mighty but dumb desires of the human
heart, and is often felt to be a Divine Revelation simply because it is a
Divine Expression, putting into words what the soul has been vainly
struggling to utter. Let me say further that, if you accept me as your
teacher, I shall give you the texts at the end of the lessons rather than at
the beginning ; in fact, I shall make you your own text ; I shall jjreach
out of your life, and give you, if possible, to feel that Jesus Christ knows
you better than you know yourself, and that His Gospel is the only true
answer to the most anxious strife and expectation of the human heart."

192 THE CITY TEMPLE.

" When shall we meet again ? " he inquired.

" This day week," said I, and we parted — I a stronger Christian ; he
a less determined doubter as to the functions of faith in the highest life
of mankind.

Lord, increase our faith : help us to walk by faith, not by sight, and to
endure as seeing the invisible. Teach us how poor a world is possible
to the senses, and how vast a universe is revealed to the vision of
Christian faith. Help us to honour Jesus Christ with our deepest trust,
to put ourselves into His holy keeping, and to draw our inspiration from
His infinite love. We would have our conversation in heaven ; we would
live away from earth ; we would drink of the river of Thy delights. Good
Lord, hear us, — blessed God, save us with Thy mighty hand. We bless
Thee for all the rewards of faith which we have already enjoyed, for
our dominion over time, for our mastery of the flesh, for our independ-
ence of earthly ease. We would still further know the blessedness of
faith in Thee and in Jesus Christ. We would never doubt Thee. In
the darkness we would hold Thy hand, in the light we would see Thy
face, in the storm we would hear Thy voice, and in all things would see
proofs of Thy wisdom and care. Specially, give us the faith which
bringeth salvation, and openeth to our hearts the prospect of heaven.
Amen.

C|e Citg Cemjie.

% "^ ixx ixh It

ON REVELATION.

BY

JOSEPH PAEKEE,

delivered
In the Poultry Chapel, on Thursday Morning, January IStii, 1870.

I THOUGHT mucli of Biy friend's admission that I had spoken to him so
humanly ; it threw me back npon Jesus Christ's method of teaching :
liow He turned common life into a religious argument ; how the signs of
the sky, the flowers of the field, the birds of the air, and the sheep of the
pastu.re, became illustrations of His doctrine ; how He compelled men to
make one admission after another until He left them without excuse ;
and how by the omnipotence of gentleness He sought the sway of the
human heart. My friend responded to sympathy, and bowed himself
before the claims of common sense. He had a wonderful moral nature ;
almost morbidly conscientious, yet most unsuspecting and generoiis in
all his interpretations of human conduct. But for this generosity I
should have formed a different estimate of his religious difficulties. Had
lie been narrow, suspicious, and misanthropic in his general views of life,
his theological scruples might have been attributed to mere love of dis-
putation, but I knew him to be frank, liberal, and magnanimous, always
ready to console the disconsolate and uphold the cause of the weak —
never withholding the admiration due to merit, and always more than
willing to magnify the excellencies of his friends. Yet this noble spirit
liad become deeply overshadowed, and the darkness sorely disquieted
him, so m\;ch so that he often openly complained of a restlessness which
was as hard to endure as a great affliction. Always prepared to receive

17

194 THE CITY TEMPLE.

instruction, he Avonld never endorse a conclusion until lie liad tested all
the links which connected it with first principles. The reasoning power
which had been ignored or dishonoured by his early religious teachers
now asserted its supremacy with an emphasis which would have been
immodest but for the prevailing diffidence of his character. They who
unduly bend the bow must be held responsible for the violence of the
recoil. To a religious teacher my friend brought at least one decided
advantage — the advantage of having a deep interest in religious questions.
Opposition is better than indifierence. The man who denies every pro-
position you make and argues vehemently for the other side is in a
healthier state of mind than the man who is utterly indifferent, who
cares nothing whether your docti'ines are right or wrong, and who has
scarcely life enough to listen to the words which are specially addressed
to him. You may tame a roaring lion, but you can only bury a dead dog.

On the clay appointed for our second interview my friend found his
way into my study, and, after brief salutations, laid on the table a pocket
copy of the Bible, and said in a subdued yet emphatic tone —

" There ! tliat is my difficulty. I am prepared to go with you in all
you say about the importance and even the necessity oi Faith ; but what
am I to make of this book 1 I cannot receive it ; it confounds and
mocks me. I have read it, every word, and I decline to accept it ; that
is my position. Can you get me out of it f

" I can tell you why / received it," I quietly answei-ed, thinking it
better not to resent something in the tone that sounded like self-satis-
faction; •' but before doing so, let us see how far we occupy common
ground. When we look at the points on which we ai'e agreed we shall
know more distinctly our points of difierence."

It was a brilliant summer day. The prospect from my study window
was one of uncommon beauty ; the far-off wood was gracefully yielding
to the breeze ; the meadows were beautiful with the ricliest green ; the
fruitful hills vied in loveliness with the luxuriant vales ; everywhere
'Was^plain the handiwork of an agent mightier than man.

" Look out of the window," I continued, " and tell me what you think of
tlmt book. That book at least must have had an author. Will you tell
me what you think -about its authorship ? "

My friend quickly replied : there was a flush upon his intelligent face
as he said — '■'■God wrote that book, every word and syllable of it— pray
don't mistake me for an atheist ; if you want plain speaking, then, I tell
you at once that an atheist is a fool; — yes, God wrote that great and
lustrous volume."

" So far, then," I r-eplied, '■'■ we have two distinct and important points
ip common; first, we have God, and secondly, we have God as ^/te «wi/tor

A PARABLE ON EEVEL^TIOK. 195

of Nature. I tell you candidly, that if you had denied the Divine author-
shij) of that book of light and hill and dale, I should not have argued with
you ; in my opinion an atheist is a madman ; I have nothing to say to
him ; he is not within the pale of reasoning. So let it be understood
between us that we are thoroughly agreed that God is the author of the
book of Natxire. Now tell me, if you please, what inferences you have
drawn respecting the author of this book ] "

"Why of course," said my friend, "that he is all-powerful and all-wise.
There is such clear adaptation of means to ends, and such a control over
the mightiest forces, that I am compelled to the conclusion that God
is wise and powei-ful, infinitely so. I hold this faith most firmly, as
firmly as the most devoted Christian can hold it, and I am prepared to
contend for it under all opposition."

I replied — " So far, then, we are still on common ground : now let me
put to you what may appear to be a very simple question — Why do the
soil and the light and the air and the dew so combine as to produce
fruit % I mean, why could we not have had sky and earth, hill and dale,
wood and water, without any produce such as corn, or fruit, or roots
suitable for food % Pardon the simplicity of the question, and its appa-
rent irrelevancy."

"Why, that is plain enough," my friend answered ; " of course man
requires nourishment. He could not live without food, so God has
made the earth productive under certain conditions. I should think that
does not admit of two opinions."

" Then do I understand you to say that the human body is not self-
supporting % That it requires external aid % That it must appropriate
the products of the earth, or else die % "

" Certainly, I do say that : a man cannot live without food."

" Yery well ; still we are on common ground," said I : " the fact
which I wish to be remembered is, that man's physical nature has not
within it self-sustaining force ; it must go out of itself, so to speak, for
elements of nutrition and growth ; — to put the idea into somewhat of a
fanciful form, the body must read the book of Nature ; it is not its own
book ; it must study the pages of creation, and go by their instructions :
is it so 1 "

" Yes; man has physical faculties for appropriation and digestion, but
of course he must go to nature for the matei'ials on which those faculties
must operate. That is plain enough."

" Well, now let us turn the conversation a little," said I. " How is
your boy doing at school ; don't you miss him veiy much l "

" Yery much indeed," my friend answei-ed ; " but we send him a box
of things every now and then."

196 THE CITY TEMPLE.

" WJiat do yon mean b}'' a Ijox of tilings," I inquired.

" Things we know lie likes ; things to eat, things to Avear, things to
play with ; nothing comes amiss to boys'."

" Quite so ; 1 see he is like all otlier boys ; still I wonder you don't
write to him now and then."

" Write to him ! " my friend exclaimed. " Of coui'se we write to him ;
we write every week regularly, and I am not sure that we don't write to
him twice a week sometimes."

" But what can he want with letters," said I, " when he gets a box of
things so often : isn't a box better than a letter; is it not absurd on the
boy's pai't to want any more writing from you than the mere label on the
box 1 "

" Ha ! lia !" my friend replied. " Tom wants to know the news, and
he never writes a letter without putting in one corner * Write soo7i,'
wliich he generally underlines at least three times ; and I tell you plainly,
it would be a bitter thing for us if he did not want letters from home."

" Then I understand you to say that it would not be enough for you
to know that he enjoyed the boxes of things ; you are glad he does that ;
but you want to have intercourse with his higher nature, to know his
mind and his heart. I am right, am I not ? "

"Entirely."

" You would not like him," I continued, " to take the boxes of things
as if anybody in the world might have sent them ; you wish him to
think of them in connection Avith his parents, with his home, with love
and wisdom on your part ; in short, you wish him to get at the inoral
purpose as Avell as the jyhysical uses of Avhat you send % "

" Most undoubtedly."

" Then we are still on common ground ; now let us come back to the
book of ISfature. If you will allow me to use a homely phrase, God sends
you boxes of things ; He sends the corn, the fruit, the flesh of beasb
and bird, and the thousand comforts of nature. Now, are these enough %
You say it woiild be a bitter thing for yon if your boy did not Avant
letters from home ; do you think it can be a pleasant thing to God to
know that all you AA-ant is the box of things, ^that j'ou care not for His
thoughts, nor for the love that fills His infinite heart ? Wonld it not
be a heart-brealcing thing for you to knoAv that your boy greedily
deA'Oured or nsed the things you sent him, but left your letters
unopened % "

" It would grieve me beyond everything," said my friend, " if I
thought my letters Avere not read ; but such a monstrous thing, on the
part of my child, I cannot allow myself to imagine."

" A monstrous thing, indeed," said I j " but take care how far vou

A PAUABLE ON REVELATIOX. 197

go in your admissious ; you may be preparing a rod for your own back .
Has God not sent you any letter ! "

" The book of Nature," said my friend, " is His letter, and I read it."

"Hold !" said I ; " the book of Nature is not the letter but the box
of things — the box of things sent for the physical sustenance of man ;
but suppose your child was to read the label on the box you send, and
say, ' That is my father's writing,' and to content himself with drawing
general inferences respecting your disposition towards him, 1 ask you
plainly — v;ould that satisfy you ? "

" Most certainly it would not satisfy me ; it would grieve me exceed-
ingly ; and if you can show me that God has wi-itten a letter to me, or
to mankind in general, I shall read every word of it as I woidd wish my
son to I'ead every word of mine. "

"This is right in point of disposition," I replied; "what we have
still to do is, to ascertain how far we ai-e upon common ground. Now,
will you tell me how far you believe God to be powerful and wise % "

'■ I believe Him to be all-jjowerful and all-wise ; there is no limit to
His loower or His wisdom : nature teaches me at least this much about
Him""

"All-powerful, you say 1" I replied ; "then will you gi'ant me this
much — viz., that so far as mere power is concerned, God could have sent
a letter to His creatures — mark you, I put it, in the first instance, on the
low ground of mere poimr — will you grant this %"

"Of course I will ; that follows necessarily; if He is all-powerful, He
must have power to do this."

" So far, then, we are still on common ground : now the reverse of
your position must also be true — viz., that if God has not written a letter
it is not for want of poioer to write it."

" Certainly ; tliat may be granted."

" Then as you grant that, we may advance a step further. I understood
you to say that the body has not a self-sustaining power ; it must ap-
propriate suitable elements which are outside of it, and which were pro-
vided for it by this all-powerful and all-wise God. Now, if this be the
case with the body, is it not also the case with the Tnind 1 Has the
mind within itself all the elements necessary for its internal sustenance
and growth, or nrust it di'aw from other minds ideas and impulses for
its own enrichment and quickening % To put the matter in an extreme
form, take it thus : — Put a child upon an uninhabited island ; let it
have everything necessary for its Ijodily susteaiance, but no opportunity
of conversation or instruction ; shut ofi" all other mind, and leave the
mind of the child entirely to itself— what do you imagine would be the
consequence 1"

198 THE CITY TEMPLE,

"I. suppose," said uiy friend, " that under siicli circnmstauces, with-
out instrnction, without books, without any means of communicating
witli the intelligence of the world, the mind would not be unlikely to
degenerate into imbecility, or into positive insanity."

"Well, however that may be, I think we are agreed that the mind,
like the body, needs something heyond itself to stimulate, enrich, and
satisfy it. What is your opinion upon that point f

" I grant all that," said my friend ; " but cannot we stimidate one
another ? Do not authors teach readers % Dou't the wise instruct the
ignorant 1 '

"Very true," said I ; "and that in itself is a proof of the very thing
I am contending for ; but wlio instructed the first man 1 You may say
that the field grows not only food, but also seed for the next crop ; but
who sowed the first seed 1 Where did the first seed come from ] You
may say that the sun lights the earth ; but who kindled the sun %
Take the case of the first man : on whom did he depend for mental
expansion and illumination V

" Of course," was my friend's I'eply, "he depended upon God for his
mind as well as for his body ; but had he not the book of Nature to read V
" Think of your own boy," I answered ; " he has the box of things ;
see what occasion that gives for profitable reflection ! He might look
at every article you send, and moralize upon it very sagely. He might
say — ' How well this garment is made ; how exquisitely the different
ingredients have been mingled in this cake ; with what thoughtful regu-
larity this box arrives, how neatly it is packed, how legibly it is
directed.' All that he could say ; but has not the lad a heart ? Will
not his soul go out after his parents in glowing admiration, and love,
and thankfulness 1 Will he not earnestly desire to have intercourse
with the hearts that cared for him with all this care 1 I ask you this,
and let your innermost soid answer."

My friend looked at me with eyes that shone with a significant light.
I knew that his fatherly heart was the true vein to work. I knew that
there is nothing through which a man can see so far towards God as the
love which he bears to his own child ; so I held the telescope to his eye,
and urged him to look at God through it.

" I know this," said he, " that if my boy were to care more for the box
than for me, I should consider that he had lost his heart altogether."

There was a delicate pathos in my friend's voice as he uttered these
words, and that pathos gave me hope. I never despair of a man who
responds to a tender tone. So long as a man is moved at the sight of
human misery, or feels a pang in his breast when even a strange child's

A PARABLE ON REVELATION. 199

coffin is borne past liim, or rises against injustice, or lightens honest in-
dustry with a smile, tliere is something in him to be wrought upon, —
a root out of -which may come flowers or fruit. I knew that there was
root enough in my doubting friend ; we only wanted to get the dew and
the light down to it.

" AVell, then," I continued, "let us work from that point. You
would think that your boy had lost his heart altogether if ho cared about
the box and not about the letter; he would simply be a sensualist, caring
ibr bodily enjoyment, and not heeding the mind or heart. I think you
woixld be right in thinking so of him. Now, according to my view of
the subject, God has given us this great bounty of nature ; He sends it
regularly ; He never forgets seed-time or harvest ; He sits above us and
pours down ten thousand thousand blessings of life and nature, of health
and reason, day by day. Is it enough to care for the gifts without
caring for the Giver 1 Are we mere machines, having a faculty for
eating, a power of appropriation and absorption 1 Have we no hearts 1
It seems to me, that if we were right-minded, there would go up from
the deepest depths of our nature a cry for a revelation of the All-
powerful and All-wise Being who gives us life, and breath, and all
things freely to enjoy. We should give ourselves iio rest until we knew
more of Him."

"In all this argument," my friend said, "you have proceeded upon
the principle that God is a Father ; now where do you get that
principle ?"

" I get it out of the very Bible which you reject !"
" On the other hand," said he, " I proceed upon the principle that
God is the Creator."

"Then let us argue the question on your own ground," said I ; "and
first of all let us make it clear that God is riiore than a Creator. We
shall take our stand on Natural Theology, without opening the Bible at
all. Let me ask you what you mean by ' Creator ' ? "

" I mean that God made all that we see — the heavens and earth; that
He set them in appointed places, and gave them appointed laws,
and that everything exists by His will and power, — that is the general
sense in which I use the term Creator."

"For all practical purposes that will do," said I. "Now you will
allow that God has not merely created things, — that is, merely brought
things into existence, — but that he has adapted one thing to another ;
that there is a purpose running through all things ; that there is, in
sliort, a marvellous interdependence and consistence/ in creation ? "

" Certainly," said my friend, " I allow this ; one thing is adapted to

200 ' THE CITY TEMPLE.

another, — the soil to the seed, the light to the eye, the air to the lungs,
and so forth."

"Very well : then while they'rtc^ of the creation gives lis a Creator,
the majiney of the creation gives a wise Creator; do you allow this V

" I allowed it at the very beginning ; I said that God was all-powerful
and all-wise."

" True ; now look from nature, comprehensively so called, and tell me
who created 7na7i ? "

" God created man, of course," said my fi'iend.

" Then will you be good enough to say what relation there subsists
between man and God ; you have admitted that there is a wise adapta-
tion of the soil to the seed, the light to the eye, the air to the lungs, and
so forth, — now will you say Avhether there is a similar point of unity or
adaptation between man and God ]"

'" Most certainly I think there is ; I contend that man should worship
God in the great and beautiful temple of IN^ature ; he should thank God
for the bounties of His jjrovideuce, and cherish a thankful spirit, and a
reverent spirit too."

"Wait a moment, then," said 1 ; "let us keep before our minds the
fact of your boy being at school ; and let us imagine him cherishing, a
thankful spirit to an anonymous friend who had sent him a box of
things. Now you think that on your part such a spirit would suffice in
relation to God, yet on the part of your boy you would deplore and
deprecate it."

" Yes ; because I do not know so much about God as my boy knows
about me."

" But how can you know so much about Him when you will not read
His letter."

" Show me that He has written a letter," he answered, "and, as I
have just said, I will gladly read it every word."

" Have you read the Bible ?"

" Yes."

" Does it purport to be a revelation from God V

" Certainly it does."

" What proof have you that it purports to be a Divine revelation?"

" It constantly says that it is such. Times without number it says,
' Thus saith the Lord ;' and all its writers are constantly referring to
what the Lord has said or the Lord has done.' '

" Then such being the case, I think that you will allow that the Bible
is either what it claims to be, or it is not what it claims to be ; and if it
is not what it claims to be, it must really be the icorst book imaginable.
Mark the argument ; the Bible cannot be merely a very good book, or

A PARABLE ON REVELATION. 201

a good enough book in its way, as the common phrase is ; it lays claim
to too much to be considered in that light. One of two things it must
be, —either a distinct revelation from God, which it avows itself to be,
or a horrible lie and most revolting blasphemy. It professes to record
God's words and God's acts upon the earth ; to foretell the future ; to
describe the world to come ; and to lay down the duty of man : all this
it does in the name of God, with most impressive and appalling
solemnity. Now I ask you whether this book can occupy any middle
povsition, — whether it is not either from heaven or from hell 1"

" Certainly," said my friend, " it is, at any rate, not to be ranked with
common books ; it must occupy an extreme position ; but may it not be
regarded as a poem, or parable, — a great work of imagination I"

" In answering your question, let us clear our way by one or two pre-
liminary intpuries : does the Bible j^rofess to be a poem or a parable — I
mean the Bible as a whole f

" No ; it does not profess to be such.''

" Very well ; then according to your own showing the Bible would be
something that it does not profess to be."

" Well," said my friend, " but are there not many works of fiction
which have about them all the appearance of veritable histories 1 They
have the names of persons and places, and an arrangement of events
which is so continuous and consistent as to present all the external evi-
dence of being literally true. May not the Bible belong to this depart-
ment of literature V

"Another preliminary rjuestion, if you please," said T. "Are there
not some portions of tlie Bible which profess to be parabolic or poetic?"

" There are several such portions."

" Then consider how much force attaches to this admission. Where
one part is distinctly set forth as a parable, and another specially written
as a poem, does not this very circumstance show by implication that the
other portions are to be regarded as historical V

" Certainly it has a bearing in that direction."

" If I sent you a letter, and marked several of the paragraphs as para-
bolic, or otherwise imaginative, would you not conclude that the para-
graphs which are not so marked contained statements of fact which were
to be interpreted in the natural and customary manner V

" I don't hesitate to say that I should do so."

"Well ; now here is a book several parts of which are distinctively
poetic or parabolic, put down as such, put so clearly that no child can
mistake them ; I press you, therefore, with this question, Does not the
very fmt that some portions are marked as 2)araholic give to other i^ortions
a historic aspect ?"

202 THE CITY TEMPLE.

My frientl saw the inevitable bearing of this inquiry, and hesitated in
replying. I took occasion, consequently, to simplify this view of the
subject.

" Suppose," I said, " in pointing out a number of flowers to you, I
distinctly said that five of them were artificial, should I not leave it to
be inferred that the others were natural 1 Or suppose that in calling
your attention to a number of coins I pointed out some that were bad,
should I not thereby leave upon your mind the impression that the
others were good 1 So when the Bible says this is a parable, and that is
a jjoem, I take this very discrimination as a proof that the other portions
are not to be regarded as imaginative. Am I not right ?"

My friend still hesitated, so I proceeded —

" Well, now, that we may have the argument clearly before iis, let us
see how far Ave have kept together. We believe in God all-powerful and
all-wise. We agreed that He wrote the book of Natui-e ; that He has
at least the poioer to do as much by revelation for the human mind as
He has done by nature for the human body ; that if, along with the box
of things, as we called the productions of the earth. He has sent a letter,
we should be guilty of ingratitude if we did not care more for the letter
than for the material gifts. We have agreed that there is a book which
at all events imrports to be a letter from God, and that if it is not the
best book it is the worst book ; but you at last snggested that it might
be a work of imagination, — the answer of poetry to the great inddle of
God, the universe, and man. In reply to this last suggestion, I have
said that some portions of the Bible are distinctly marked as parabolic,
and that this circumstance leaves the other portions to be otherwise
regarded and valued. If no such distinction had been made in the book
itself, your ground would have been so much stronger ; but the fact of
this distinction leaves you without any foothold. This is how the argu-
ment stands at present. Noav let me tell you why, apai't fi'om the
answer already given, I reject yoiu' theory of the Bible being merely a
work of art — an elaboration of excited genius ; and you must pardon
me for suspending the dialogue, and aspii'ing to be your instructor.
I believe in the God of Nature, the all-powerful and all- wise
Creator and Sustainer of the uniA^erse. I see Him in the light ; I
hear Him in the winds ; I feel Him in all the evolutions of the
seasons ; but I want to know more of Him. There is a keen hunger of
the heart which no product of nature can appease ; there are stragglings
and mountings of the soul Avhich tell me that man is moi'e than dust ;
there are Avars and tumults of the spirit Avhicli convince me that man
has lost his equilibrium. I feel all this, and I Avant something to meet
such conditions, and satisfy them. Under these circumstances the Bible

A PARABLE OX IIKVELATION. 203

is given to me. I examine it. Mystery upon mjstery comes up as I
proceed ; but I cliscovei- a marvellous correspondence between the doc-
trines of the book and the instincts of the heart. No other book ever
spoke in so deep and clear a tone to mj^ soul ; it seems to know the
whole range and compass of my nature, and to meet me at every turn.
It speaks the native language of the heart ; — it talks of sin and sorrow,
of guilt and tears, of mercy and hope, of immortality and heaven. There
is mucli I cannot understand. There ai'e some things which appear con-
tradictory ; but not more contradictory than day and night, summer and
winter, bane and antidote, youth and age. All the time the heart feels
thi-illed, and lifted up, and fired with the lofty ambition of new-born
love. I feel that the Writer of Nature is also the Writer of Revelation ;
[ see the same breadth of wisdom, the same vastness of power, the same
boundless generosity, the same shadow of mysteiy wrought by the same
Light of Divinity. The spirit within answers to the Spirit without, as
a lost child woidd answer on a dark, wild night, to a distant voice that
called him to hope and i-est ; all this I feel. I get beyond the mere
letter. I see that discrepancies are only incompletenesses, that faded
ink is not to be mistaken for unequal power ; and as I should not deny
the God of Natui-e because of the blunders of the agriculturist, so I
should not deny the God of Revelation because of the slips of an incom-
petent or inattentive scribe. Now tell me," said I, " how far you go
with me in this method of putting the case."

" I own," he replied, " that there are times when I do wish to know
more than Nature seems to be able to tell me— yes, I remember" (this he
said in a musing tone) — " Nature is too silent forme many a time. It was
so when I buried my first-born, a bright and most comely boy, in whom
I was to have lived my own life over again. It was a dark day when I
laid his young head in the grave. I feel a chill in my heart, even now,
as I think of it. A letter from God on that day would have been of
some use to me."

"■ And there loas a letter for you," said I. The tears were now
gathered, and for the moment he had no words. I continued, endea-
vouring to touch the wound with a delicate hand, " The letter said —
' Suffer little children to come unto me, and forbid them not, for of such
is the kingdom of heaven.' "

That word seemed to bring him nearer to the Bible than any he had
heardfor a longtime. Buthecould not proceed with argument. When men's
hearts are conscious of great aching and poverty, logic is a poor barren
thing to them. I bade him good-bye, to which he replied by a friendly
grasp more fervent than usual. I reasoned upon his case thus : Men
may come to the Bible in one of two different waj^s ; they may come in

204 THE CITY TEMPLE.

a captiously critical spirit, resolute in maintaining foregone and most
prejudiced conclusions, or they may come in a child-like spirit of inquiry,
their eyes blinded with such tears as sharpen the vision of the soul.
The Bible is most precious to those who need it most. Its special
adaptation is towards guilt, misery, and want. I can imagine a man
wlio has never lost a child having many cavils to virge ; but I cannot
imagine any man, standing by the grave of his offspring, not being
touched into tenderness by a book which told him that the child-roots
which are buried on earth bloom as unfading flowers in heaven. It is
apparently forgotten by many critics that man has a heart as well as a
head ; he wants an answer to his emotions as well as to his speculations.
He gets through Nature, and cries for Life — the voices of Nature
confound and perplex him, the voice of the Spirit finds access to the
wondering and anxious heart. Tnie, I cannot explain all the diificulties
in the Bible, but what is there that can be fully explained, even in our
own life 1 We contradict our own selves, we are constautlj^ leaving our
very identity behind us ; our life, if true to the highest law, is a daily
correction of itself; and surely we have had drill and sorrow enough to
teach us that explanation is itself only another side of mystery, and that
what is called conclusion is only a sign that another chapter is just about
to begin.

ON EEVELATION (continued).

BY

JOSEPH PAEKEE.

delivered
In the Poultry Chapel, on Thursday Morning, January 20th, 1870.

It occurred to me that probably a good purpose might be answered by
committing to writing a brief and almost elementary statement of my
own relation to the Bible, and offering to make that the basis of further
inquiry ; not that I wished to take the lead out of my friend's hands,
but to save the conversation from the risks of unprepared answers on
either side. My friend's state of mind required that we should begin on
very general ground, leaving the hardest speculative questions to be
taken after some of the most pressing moral difficulties had been con-
sidered. In our last interview my friend made a most important admis-
sion, viz., that sometimes Nature — liis great idol — was too silent ; that
specially in his overwhelming sorrows did he feel mocked and defied by
the speechlessness of his majestic and brilliant god. I felt that this
admission was capable of being turned to the great advantage of the
argument, and made it the starting-point of ray paper. When my friend
returned, I explained that I had written a brief statement, which I
wished him to hear, and on receiving his cordial permission, I read as
follows : —

" In our last interview you acknowledged that Nature was sometimes
too silent for you ; that there are periods in your history when you wish
to know more than Nature can tell you. This I regard as a i^resumption
(in the meantime I use no stronger word) in favour of the doctrine that

18

206 THE CITY TEMPLE.

some revelation has been made. There is a book which professes at
least to contain intelligence immediately from God. Now, I submit
that the inquiry which this circumstance necessitates should start from
the point of human want. How far does this book — making such great
professious — meet and satisfy the consciousness of man 1 Man does not
want merely dates, names, certificates of local incidents, or anything of
that kind. He wants something better, something deeper. When the
heart is hungering, when the brain is aching under the pressure of some
great problem, when light and darkness are swiftly alternating on the
way of life, this book is put into my hands. It is not likely under such
circumstances that I should fritter away time in inquiries which do not
toiich the very coi'e. The heart becomes impatient with petty details ;
its urgent questions press tumultuously upon the book, and if these be
not answered with a considerable measure of satisfaction, it is driven
back by the shock of a mortal disappointment. How, then, does this
book respond to the inquiries of the soul 1 Let us ask it a few ques-
tions, and listen to its answers : —

" How is the existence of man to be accounted for 1 I would know
something of human life — how it came to be, and how it will develop
in ages to come. Can Nature tell me 1 Does the light know the secret,
or will the winds whisper it, or is it told by the voice of the thunder?
No. But the book says- — God created man, created him in His own
image and likeness. Now this is an answer beyond anything that mere
Nature has told me. Whatever be the value of it, in the meantime it is
certainly such a testimony as creation has not given me. What shall I
do with such an answer ? Let me take it to my consciousness, so to
speak, and ascertain how far it meets the wants of the heart. Is there,
then, about me anything Divine 1 Am I conscious of a nature superior
to everything about me t Is there a royalty which says, I am greater
than the sun t Is there a hunger which cannot be appeased by the
products of earth 1 I know there is, — it is not a lesson I have learned
from the outside, it is a truth which is inwoven with my very constitu-
tion. There are instincts of lordliness in man which ai-e to be accounted
for, and the answer which the book gives (whatever may be its value) is
that man was created in the image and likeness of God.

" Then another question forces itself upon me. I know that I have
some dispositions which are bad ; there are times when my nature seems
to be rebellious, tossed with unholy tumult, or fired with most ignoble
ambition : what is the meaning of this? Can Nature tell mel Will
the sea tell the secret, or the volcano answer the mystery 1 Why am I
not always calm 1 Why are my desires not always pure and elevated 1
This experience must be accounted for. Nature is silent ; but the book
Says, You have lost your moral equilibrium ; your heart has been

A PAKABLE ON KEVELATION. 207^

estranged fi-om God ; you have cai-ried your instincts of mastery, right
enough in themselves, too far, and you are now enduring the conse-
quences. This is the answer of the book : how shall I test it ] By
taking it to my consciousness. My heart is its own witness on the sub-
ject. I knoio that my ways have been perverted : I know that when.
the right has been befoi-e me, I have deliberately chosen the wrong; and
now that the book tells me that I have lost my centre, my nature con-
firms the testimony, saying, This book has put into language a feeling
which I could never adequately express.

" I inqiiire again : What is the destiny of man 1 Is he but as a leaf
that buds, and blooms, and pei'ishes 1 Is the grave the full stop of this
strange difficult literature of life ] Can Nature tell me 1 Are the
withered leaves the answer 1 To me the inquiry is intensely interesting
and exciting. I have seen men die, and little children vanish like
bubbles on the stream. Whare are they 1 Where are the beings so
patient in suffering, so self oblivious in love, so self-reserved in power
and joy ] I ask Nature ; but she is silent. I study her processes, but
they are only partially analogical. I reason, speculate, and desire ;
amidst all this the book says — Death is but the shadow of life ; the
grave is not a goal, it is but a changing-place ; there shall be a resur-
rection of the dead ; mortality shall be swallowed up of life ; death
itself shall die ! What shall I do with this answer ? Do with it as I
did with the others. Does it meet my necessity, does it satisfy my hope ?
It certainly does so. Nature did not touch the question, but the book
answers it with fulness and emphasis. It sheds light precisely where
light was most needed, and such light I cannot allow to be extinguished.
Tiie heart would sink in dismay but for this revelation of the meaning
of death, this light upon the mystery of the future.

" Then I revert to the sinful tendencies of my nature. Can they be
overcome 1 I should be deceiving myself if I pretended to have thought
and acted always in harmony with principles which I know to be right.
Being my own judge, I pass sentence against myself. I own to having
thought bad thoughts and done bad deeds ; and the question presses
upon me how such thoughts and deeds are to be taken away, and how
the disposition to repeat them is to be annihilated. I feel that men are
trifling with me when they say that I have not been bad, not been false
to myself, not been unfaithful and ungrateful towards God. Under
those circumstances I go to Nature, but she is dumb. I ask her if she
grows one plant whose juices are good for moral healing, but in her
Gilead there is no balm. I ask if she has any holy fountain at which
heai'ts can be cleansed, but she mocks me with unsympathetic silence.
I am not idealizing Avhen I speak of human guilt ; it is a fact ; the
^tain. is broadly marked upou every man, the tokens of a great fall are

f08 THE CITY TEMPLE.

strewn upon the whole expanse of society. The book meets the
difBculty. When I ask, Is there any cleansing for man ] it answers —
There is a fountain opened for sin and uncleanness. When I ask, Can
sin be borne away 1 it answers — The Lamb of God taketh away the sin
of the world. When I ask, Can the disposition to commit sin be
destroyed 1 it answers — God will put His Spirit within man, and make
him perfectly holy. Th\is I get from the book answers which I cannot
get from Nature. Every question lawful to a finite agent has been
anticipated and answered — answered so as to meet the immediate
necessity, and yet so as to give promise of fuller revelation according to
the expanding capacity of man.

*' Now look at the difference between your position and mine. You
say that you worship in the great temple of Nature ; but Nature leaves
the deepest questions of your heart without an answer, it finds death an
enigma and leaves it a mystery, it sees you weeping but has no power
over the fountain of tears, it observes you looking wistfully to the future
but never withdraws the veil. Now, on my part, I pass through Nature
as through a porch to the inner temple of revelation : there, provision
has been made for every question which beai-s upon character, condition,
and destiny ; and I beg you specially to observe that such provision has
been made in revelation alone. I have no choice in the matter ; it
must be either the Bible or nothing — either this light, whatever the
degree of intensity, or darkness which makes life miserable. Seeing
that the Bible speaks so directly to my deepest nature, however much
of mystery there may be about some of its words, and seeing that if I
part with the Bible I part with everything that touches my most urgent
necessities, I have concluded to regard it as an authoritative answer
meanwhile to all the pi-oblems of man's spiritual constitution."

In this manner I laid down a few starting-points for our second con-
versation respecting the Bible, taking care to make the position suffi-
ciently general to avoid dogmatism, and purposely personal, so as to
give me the advantage of direct witness to the truth of the doctrines
affirmed.

My friend answered : " I see you begin your inquiry from the point
of consciousness, and not from what may be called a literary point,"

" Just," I replied, " as a hungering man would begin with food which
nad been placed before him, and not with agricultiire or physiology.
A man must be directed by his necessities. Now I wanted answers
to the questions which I have just put, and therefore I anxiously
examined the replies of this book. My most urgent questions
were not about the heavens and the earth, but about my own
nature — what am I, whence came I, whither am I going] These
questions wei'e iippermost, and by its answers to these questions

A PAUABLE ON REVELATION. 209

' — and not by its method of dealing with other subjects — I felt
that the book must stand or fall, so far as my spiritual nature is
concerned."

" Well," said my friend, *' my own position with regard to the Bible
is that it is a very wonderful book, that it contains many beautiful
things, things we cannot get anywhere else ; and I think we should deal
with it eclectically, taking out what is good and leaving what we
don't believe. That is my creed : is it unreasonable ?"

" First of all, then," I replied, " let us see exactly how much of the
book we are prepared to keep ; we shall go into the inquiry, if you
please, as men who are really anxious to know ourselves and our pro-
bable destiny. Now will you tell me, so far as you can recollect, what
the doctrine of the Bible is respecting the origin of man 1 "

" The Bible says that God created man, made him out of the dust,
and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life."

"Very well ; now have you any better solution of the origin of the
human race '? "

" Why there is the development theory," my friend answered ;
" animal life rising to more and more completeness and dignity."

" Well," I said, " not to tvirn off into ridicule, which it would be
easy to do, — will you tell me on which side the gx*eater difficulty lies,
the side which says that man is an improved edition of some lower
animal, licked into shape through long ages ; or the side which says —
God (whom you have admitted to be all-powerful and all-wise) ci'eated
man 1 Merely looking at the question as one of mystery : there is, we
allow, mystery on both sides, on the side of development and on the
side of creation ; but on which side is there less of mystery ] Remem-
ber that even this lower life, out of which man is said to have been
developed, must itself have had an origin. We cannot take the doctrine
of development back beyond a given point ; we must stop somewhere,
and wherever we stop we have (apart from a revelation) an insurmount-
able difl&culty. Now merely as a question of mystery, not as a question
of truth, on which side is the greater difficulty'?"

My friend answered, " There cannot be any hesitation about that. I
have, so you say, allowed God to be all-powerful and all-wise, and when
I am told that He made man out of the dust of the earth, and breathed
into his nostrils the breath of life, I see nothing in that which is incon-
sistent with omnipotence, or which indeed is incompatible with natural
reason."

" That, howevei-," I answered, " was merely a preliminary question ;
will you now say what Nature tells you about the spiritual constitution
of man 1 You have the heavens and the earth to read, now say what
they have told you about man's spiritual being."

210 THE CITY TEMPLE.

" I clon't know that tlie heavens and the earth, as such, have thrown
any light upon man's moral nature."

*' "Well, then," I continued, "will you recall your impressions about
the Bible upon this matter ? To bring the subject to a jjoint, will yoii
say of what quality God made man's spiritual nature, according to the
showing of the Bible % "

" I understand that God made man's natui'e like His own ; and as He
is good, no doubt He made man good : that is how I undei-stand the case
to be put in the Bible."

" And is there anything unreasonable in this % "
" Certainly not."

" Then will you say farther how the Bible accounts for the fact that
man did not remain good 1 As a mere matter of fact, we know that
man does commit evil, and what I want to know in the meantime is, how
the Bible accounts for human sin."

" The Bible says plainly that man disobeyed the instructions of God ;
but what I cannot understand is, why God should have made a being
who was cajjahle of falling."

" That is perfectly clear," I replied, " but that subject must be reserved
for separate discussion ; we shall come upon it before our inquiry is con-
cluded. Now therefore, if you please, clearing the field of all subordi^-
jiate matter, let us come at once to two or three testing questions : you
have the great fact of human sorrow to account for ; what is the hest
answer you have ever heard to the enigma of grief 1 Or, to put the
question in another form, can you give a better answer than the Bible
gives, viz., that human sorrow is the fruit of human sin ? We have
become so familiar with that view of the case, that we are apt to over-
look its originality ; what I wish you to do is, to forget as far as possible
all discussions, difficulties, and prejudices respecting that answer, and to
look at it as an answer just given,— sin the cause of sorrow, the universe
taking up ai'ms against its rebellious occupants. Have you any better
solution to suggest 1 "

" I know," replied my friend, " that soitow is a fact ; and when I
attempt to reason xipon it from a natural point of view, I cannot believe
that it is the result of good behaviour. If ever I say an angry word to
my child, it is because he has been doing something wrong ; I never
frown u})on him when he has been doing right : so that if I take my own
iiimily government as the basis of inference, I should say that all suf-
fering is dii'ectly or indirectly caused by false action on the part of
man."

" Very well, then, that is the explanation of the Bible respecting the
miserj'^ of the world ; you say it harmonises with your own consciousness,
it finds an echo within your own heai-t. Now take another point : you

A PARABLE ON REVELATION. 211

referred in our last interview to the death of a child ; death is a mysteiy
to natural reason : standing by the side of the grave, I wish to know if
this is the end of man, or if there is anything beyond. The Bible said
to you, when you buried your child, ' Of such is the kingdom of heaven ; '
and I now ask you whether you have ever heard a better answer to the
mystery of death 1 "

"It is an answer which pleases me," said my friend; "I like to
think of my child being in a world of perfect purity and ha])piness : I
revolt at the idea of so much beauty and loveliness as were embodied in
my child being lost in the grtive. I find no fault with your answer ; if
true, it is the best answer of all."

" You say, ' if true;' in the meantime we are walking in the light of
consciousness, not of verbal criticism ; what I have to ask, therefore, is
whether your heart does not respond to the announcement as one which,
meets its deepest desire 1 "

" My heart delights to think that the child is living, and living in
perfect bliss ; but this perplexing question will thrust itself upon me :
Cannot the consciousness which approves also create ? Throughout the
whole argument you have been judging by consciousness ; but I feel as
if the faculty which approves might first have created the very things
which it does approve, and that thus our answers to soitow and death,
and all the phenomena of life, may be simply poetic conceptions, strong
wishes expressed in authoi'itative language."

" I am glad of the suggestion," I replied ; " it proceeds upon a great
principle, and introduces us into a most fruitful field of argument. I do
not hesitate to attach very high importance to the speculative power of
the human mind ; it is, in fact, to this speculative power (comprehending
within its range the anxieties and aspirations of the heart respecting a
true solution of life and destiny) that Divine revelation addresses itself.
It is, in fact, the point at which God and man are able to meet in
spiritual conference, and apart from which man is a mere animal. I
want you to understand me very distinctly in this part of our argument,
because some rude inquirers have apparently run away with the notion
that Divine revelation and human thinking stand on opposing planes,
and consequently that so-called Divine revelation seeks to thrust itself
upon the human mind as a foreign and insoluble element. Now, to my
thinking, the very term revelation implies a capacity to receive what is
revealed : to a blind man you cannot reveal a colour ; to a dog you can-
not reveal a work of art ; there must, in some degree, be correspondence
of quality between the mind making the revelation and the mind re-
ceiving it. The power of intuition is the characteristic glory of man.
Now, all this I do not merely admit — I fervently insist upon, and
clciim as the distinct staudincf ground of the Christian advocate. With

212 THE CITY TEMPLE.

regard to your suggestion, that human consciousness may have created the
doctrines which it approves, the answer already given seems to me to be
perfectly satisfactory."

" What was the answer V said my friend ; " for the moment it has
quite escaped me."

" You remember," I continued, " that in our last interview you sug-
gested that the Bible might be viewed as a work of imagination, a
parable, a poem, and that we agreed — at least, so I understood — that
this could not be so, for the obvious reason that the Bible lays claim to
too much for that suggestion to be true. The Bible claims to be the
Word of God ; it uses a language which would amount to falsehood and
blasphemy, if it were but an effort of human genius ; and, therefore,
unless we are prepared to discard the Bible altogether, we must give
weight to the special claim which it insists upon."

" Then," said my friend, " iu what light are we to regard the doctrines
of the pre-Christian thinkei's 1 I find gods in Homer ; I find immor-
tality in Plato ; I find vii'tue in Aristotle ; and I find something nearly
as high iu morals in many heathen writers as I find in the Christian
writings. What do you make of these things?"

"Allow me," I replied, " to say that you do not sufficiently recognise
the value of a most important admission which I have already made,
viz., that mzin^s power of speculation is his characteristic glory. I
hold the Bible doctrine, that man was created in the image and likeness
of God, that for a time he held loving communion with his Maker, and
that after the moral crisis called * the fall ' he retained, in a ruined con-
dition indeed, the great faculties with which he was originally endowed,
and that ever since he has been as a blind man, groping his way back to
the staiting-point. Old echoes still linger in him ; old forms of beauty
still seem to float before the vision of the bewildered brain ; he retains
broken memories, half truths, partial recollections, and in his more
earnest moods he has so put these together, as many a time to touch the
sublime reality by coming within the very shadow of God. It is to be
distinctly remembei-ed that God never left Himself without witness in
the thoughts and hearts of men. No doubt Plato and Aristotle had
visions of truth which others did not see, and were the interpreters to
their contemporaries of the most advanced truth of their age. The
labours of Plato and Aristotle are not to be undervalued. On the con-
trary, they are to be held in high esteem, not only for what they are in
themselves, but specially as demonstrative of a great want which the
heart has continually but ineffectually been endeavoui'ing to supply."

"Then," said my friend, " will you point out the difterence iu value
between the speculations of the philosophers and the statements of the
Bible?"

A PARABLE ON REVELATION. 213

'■' "Before doing so," said I, "pardon me if I ask a question. A com-
mon acquaintance of ours saw you in company with a stranger a few
weeks ago, and he told me that from your manner you seemed to have
something upon your mind which made you look unhappy : he said he
was afraid you had sustained some pecuniary loss, or some bereavement ;
but the manner of the stranger had so much of indifference about it, that
he hardly knew what to make of the case. He once thought you were
trying to persuade him to some course about which he was undecided.
May I ask, if not intruding on privacy, what are the facts of the
case 1 "

" The fact is," my friend replied, " that I was stating some of my
usual religious difficulties to him, and pointing out to him the import-
ance of giving attention to deeper questions than those which usually
occupied his attention."

"Now then," I said, " will you be kind enough to point out the dif-
ference in value between the statement which I had heard, and the
statement which you have just made 1 "

" The difference is this, that what you had heard was simply a guess
or specixlation, but what I have told you is the fact of the case."

"Precisely so ; and that is the answer to your own question. Through-
out the old philosophies you have bold guesses, daring speculations,
sublime imaginings ; yet nowhere have you certainty : but in the Bible
you have ' Thvis saith the Lord,' and thus you have thrown upon you the
responsibility of rejecting a testimony which at least professes to be from
God, and not only so, but which answers the deepest questions of your
moral nature as they have never been answered before, and by so much
vindicates its claim to be considered Divine. Now will you tell me
what your recollections of my argument are 1 Kindly put it before me,
as if you were putting it before a third person."

" What 1 have understood you to say is this : — That God, who is all-
powerful and all-wise, could, so far as mere power is concerned, have
made a revelation of His will ; that as He has provided for man's body,
it is not unnatural that He should provide, with at least equal care and
bounty, for man's mind ; that man has deep wants which he has been
seeking to supply by various speculations, guesses, and hypothetical
doctrines, all of which leave the wants very much as they found them,
yet all of which testify to a nature that needs a revelation, and is capable
of receiving one ; that there is a book which professes to be such a
revelation as man requires, which answers the deepest problems of
human nature as they have never been answered before, explaining the
existence of sin, showing how it is to be forgiven, shedding light on the
mystery of the gi'ave, and opening up visions of the world to come ; and
all this it does, not conjectu rally, but with an authority which, if not valid,

214 THE CITY TEMPLE.

is the most audacious demand ever made upon human credulity. That
is what I understand you to have said."

" Your summary is I'ight ; what I wish to be specially remarked is,
that this is an argument founded upon the constitution of the human m,ind.
We have not entered upon any literary ai-gument at all ; I undertake
to pi'oduce voluminous, and to my mind satisfactory, evidence of a purely
literary nature regarding the authorship, the consistency, and the validity
of the numerous productions which constitute the Bible ; but I look
upon this as a very subordinate work : a book may be perfectly con-
sistent, grammatical, and even fascinating, yet it may not satisfy the
heart ; on the other hand, a book may be rugged, ungratnmatical, and so
incomplete as to appear on a superficial view to be self-contradictory, yet
it may penetrate, quicken, and enrich the soul. My inquiry begins
from the higher point, — What is the relation of this book to the human
mind ? How does it address itself to human necessities 1 And being
satisfied on these points, I leave inferior considerations to come iip
afterwards."

"Then do I understand you to mean," my friend interposed, "that to
you there are no mysteries in revelation 1 Is everything perfectly
straightforward and easy of explanation 1"

" I mean to say," I answered, "that there are as many mystei'ies
about the book of nature as there are about the book of revelation, and
that if I were to adopt your method of objection; I should repudiate the
book of Nature altogether ; from your stand-point I should say that any-
thing more unreasonable and more contradictory than the book of Nature
cannot be imagined. Now, to show this I will, if you please, personate
a novice in physical science, and begin by asking you what makes the
sun go round the earth % Now answer me as you would answer your
own boy."

" The sun does not go round the eai'th ; the earth goes round the sun,"
I should answer.

" Do you mean to say, then, that the earth moves ]"

" Certainly the earth moves."

*' I deny it : it is perfectly motionless ; I cannot see it move ; I can-
not feel it move ; I cannot hear it move. Do you think I can believe
anything which directly couti-adicts my own senses 1"

" You cannot understand all this yet," I should say. " You must get
on with your simpler learning, and by-and-by you will better comprehend
the teachings of learned men."

" All very fine ; but no learned man will ever persuade me that
seeing is not believing. How far is the sun from the earth ?"

" It is said to be ninety-five millions of miles."

" Nonsense ; why we can see the sun, and yet we cannot see the very

A PARABLE ON REVELATION. 215

next town, which is only twenty miles oflf, and there is not a single hill
on all the road ! No, no ; it will take a very learned man to persuade
me that the snn is farther from the earth than Edinburgh is from
London."

" From these remarks," I continued, " and a hundred others which a
novice might make, you see that the natural senses are sometimes con-
tradicted or defied by natural objects ; that much study is necessary to
comprehend some of the universally accepted dogmas of science ; and
that a man would soon make a fool of himself if he went by nothing
but his own five senses. Now let us suppose a man who declined to
study practical agriculture because there are mysteries in scientific
astronomy ! In such a case we should have a mean opinion of the
man's common sense. Or suppose he would not risk the sowing of seed
because he did not understand why decomposition should precede germi-
nation ! In such a case we should probably deem the man insane. Now
what I want to impress upon you is, that throughout all life we are
bounded, limited, by great mysteries. Nature itself is a great enigma.
Your own physiology is yet an unanswered riddle. The atmosphere is
an unexplained problem. Light has secrets to tell, which no man has
been able to elicit. Yet you reason thus : ' There are certain things
which are plain to me ; the earth does bi-ing forth fruit ; the atmosphere
is charged with elements necessaiy to animal and vegetable life ; light is
essential to growth, and indispensable to the discharge of every-day
engagements : about all these things there are mysteries which I cannot
answer, yet I avail myself of their practical advantages, and wait
for solutions of difficulty.' In thus reasoning I think you take
the course of a wise man. With regard to this book," laying my
hand on the Bible, " I reason thus : ' I have many and urgent necessities
as a moral being; questions press upon me which Nature cannot answer,
and which Reason cannot set at rest. I want to know many things
respecting myself: Am I an atom, tossed by winds which rage without
law % Am I being borne on by a fate which is irresistible, or is my
life a plan conceived by a wise and beneficent Power ] What is there
beyond 1 What kind of morning, if any morning at all, rises upon the
night which men call death 1 To all these questions the book replies,
and its replies go more deeply into my nature than all the speculations
of philosophers, and they are given without any marks of hesitancy or
uncertainty, plainly stating that they are from God, and throwing upon
me the terrible responsibility of rejecting or accepting them. I cannot
reject them. I feel like a voyager in a boundless sea, who if he leaps
from the vessel, leaps into the stormy deep without any resources but
his own poor strength and skill as a swimmer. There are many ques-
tions I should like to ask, but enough is plain for my present necessities ;

216 THE CITY TEJIPLK

there are many veils I should like to withdraw, but there are open
beauties more than I have yet fully appreciated. I could not bear a
full sight of God ; the blaze would strike me blind. What is given I
shall keep. I vahie it for the very mystery which overshadows it, for
God must be veiled so that the lustre do not destroy the vision of His
creatures.' This is my conclusion. If I give up this hook, what wilt
you give me in return ? I have tried all you have to offer, and found it
wanting. If there are mysteries with the Bible, there are ten thousand
times more mysteries without the Bible. Availing myself, therefore, of
your own argument, I abide by this written revelation."

After all, said I to myself, when my friend left me, what have such
men to give one in place of this Book ] To take it away is one thing,
but to make it up by something as good is another. Allowing that no
book can ever fully show us what God is, or ever make it impossible for
us to ask hard questions (and these two things I admit most fully), yet
that is no ground for setting the Bible aside. The writer must always
be superior to the writing : the Inspirer must always be more than inspi-
ration ; yet the writing may be of the highest value in a given combina-
tion of circumstances, and until it can be replaced with a completer
statement, it must be held as treasure given us of God for the saving of
our life. Suppose that I see in the window of a cottage overlooking the
sea a candle lighted for the benefit of sailors, and that I say to the tenant
of the cottage, " Because this candle is not the sun, I will blow it out,"
my objection would be a simple absurdity. Or, here is a little child
with a letter from his father, written in words of one syllable, and in
great letters, suitable for so young a reader. Suppose I say to him,
" Child, this is not such a letter as your father would have written to
me, and thei'efore it is impossible he can have written it to yow," would not
such reasoning show me to be neither a logician nor a man ? I cannot but
feel that there is a gracious adaptation of the method of the Bible to the
incompleteness of the human mind. There is evident restraint in the
revelation. We come suddenly to a pause in directions which the mind
would willingly pursue — the brightness of many a prospect is modified
by unexpected clouds — many an answer seems to be broken off abruptly
— the proportions of some things appear to be exaggfcrated ; — in all these
difficulties I find rest in the infinite wisdom of God. He who made the
mind, and who knows us better than we can know ourselves, will suit
the light to the organ which has to receive it, and save us from revela-
tions which, however flattering to our vanity, would exhaust our strength
and destroy our rest. We shall know more by-and-by, when we
exchange the printed page for the Living Presence.

C(]e (Citjr Cnujilc.

% f arable

ON REVELATION (continued).
Br

JOSEPH PAEKEE.

delivered
In the Poultry Chapel, on Thursday Morning, January 27th, 1870.

"When my friend I'etiirned, he brought with him a sceptic of a very-
advanced rank — a man altogether wanting in veneration, whose dogma-
tism was such, that only by the severest self-control could I preserve the
barest semblance of courtesy. The man was afflicted with the incurable
disease of faith in his personal infallibility : he knew everythiug ; he saw
through everything; he despised everything ; he himself was the prin-
cipal fact in the universe, and his opinions were the decisions of supreme
wisdom. One wonders how such a man ever came into existence in this
disorganized condition of society, but having unhappily been so ill-
treated as to be brought into it, there need not be any wonder that he
should be satisfied with the favourable contrast in which his own wisdom
stood to all the folly of a giddy world. It was quite an early effort of
genius on his part to throw the Bible overboard altogether, and one of
his first accomplishments, which he displayed long before he was able to
work for his living, was to sneer openly at his father's wild habit of con-
ducting morning and evening worship in the family. When quite a boy
he tried to make verses, which would never rhyme, in ridicule of a set of
dangerous individuals whom he mysteriously referred to as " the cloth ;"
and before he had, in general opinion, but not in his own, arrived at
man's estate, he had turned his back on all places of Christian worship,

and sallied forth into what he called "the temple of Nature," that he

19

218

THE CITY TEMPLE.

luiglit throw into discord the sweet music "'hich God intended to be the
accom2:)animent of a higher 2:)salmody. Nothing was so clear to his dis-
cerning mind as that everybody was wrong in most things, and that
"where they happened to have one spark of wisdom, they would instantly
allow his superiority as a thinker and his right as a lawgiver. He was
not to be classed with those modest persons who are always apologising
for being in existence, nor with any other persons whatsoever — he was
himself; to that proud designation no embellishment could be added by
the most liberal and fertile ingenuity.

It was only because my friend was glad of some one, who had a
stronger will than his own, to rest upon in the extremity of his distress as
a religious thinker, that he sought the occasional companionship of this
eminent dogmatist. In point of disposition they had nothing in common
— the one was a i-eA'erent doubter, the other was a surly and vulgar dis-
believer, who kept incessantly and incoherently harping on two or three
difficult points.

" Wliy did God create a being that was capable of falling 1 Why did
He not make man so that no temptation would have any power over
him ? He creates a being who is capable of falling, and after he has
fallen pronounces a curse upon him. I say, this is unnatural and
unreasonable."

And he looked as though he did believe what he said. For a moment
I tooK no notice of the remark, knowing that coolness is essential to
success in such uncongenial encounters. Having taken ample breathing
time, I replied :

" Man could not have been good, if he could not have been bad ;
strange as it may appeai\ the two things go together and are in-
separable."

" Prove t\2ii : how do you make it out?" the disbeliever instantly
responded.

" In this way," I replied, softening my tone so as to throw his into
contrast, for there is nothing so vulgar as the rasping voice of ignorant
dogmatism — " In this way : goodness is not a negative quality ; it is not
the mere absence of badness, but the dominion of the soul over vicious
forces. Goodness, when ap])lied to moral agents, describes a moral
quality; when ajiplied to inanimate objects, it describes mere adap-
tation. For instance, we may speak of a good man and of a good house,
but the term good has not the same meaning in both cases."

"True enough," said the sceptic; "but why did God make man
capable of falling ? Keep to the point, if you please."

'' Because," I replied, " God could not have made man upon any other

A PARABLE ON REVELATION. 219

condition : He made the sun incapable of falling, and all the stars
incapable of falling; but the moment you pass from matter to life you
multiply your danger ; increased life means increased risk."

" I don't see that," said the sceptic.

" Do you see it 1 " I said to my friend.

" Partly ; but pray illustrate it."

" I drive a nail into this piece of wood to hold some article until I
retiu-n for it ; I also request a child to watch another article for a time.
On my return I find the nail where I put it, I also find the child where
I left him ; do I say to the nail, ' You ai-e very good for doing what I
wanted to have done"?' Certainly not. But I may say to the child,
' You have been good, and I thank you for doing me this kindness.'
But why not expi-ess my thanks to the nail % Simply because tlie nail
had no will in the matter. The child had a will, and could have fore-
gone his charge ; and by so much as he could have broken his promise
he was honourable in keeping it. But put the case the other way.
Suppose that on my return I discovered that the child had abandoned
his position ; then I should see that in passing from matter to life I pass
from comparative certainty to probable uncertainty ; yet even the bad
child is greater than the nail, for his capacity of badness is also his
capacity of goodness."

" But suppose that the child had not been capable of running away,
that he had been inclined to goodness only, and that no tliought of evil
could by any possibility enter his mind, would not that have been
better V inquired my friend.

" Then," I replied, " he would not have been a child, he would have
been merely a tool, a thing ; for all goodness implies the exei'cise of will,
and will is a term which involves the possibility of double action ; where
there is no alternative there cannot be any will."

" But why did God put that tree in the garden to tempt the man % "
the sceptic somewhat fiercely demanded.

" First of all," I answered, " He did not put the tree in the garden to
tempt the man ; and secondly, in doing as He did, He did what you do
in your own house and business every day."

" That I deny altogether ; will you exj^lain what you mean, and
prove it ] "

" You have a family % "

" Yes."

" Do you set any limits to the liberty of your children 1 "

« Of course."

" Whi/ do you limit their liberty 1 "

220 THE CITY TEMPLE.

'' Bee;- use tliey are cliilclreii ; they have not come to years of discretion ;
Lilt Adam was a man not a child,"

" True ; so let ns take the case of a man ; take your own case, in fact,
and let us see what ground you stand upon. Are there any limits to
your own liberty?"

" Yes, there are many limits."

" Will you state a few of them 1 "

" Why there is property ; of coui'se I cannot innocently take another
man's property. There are laws of health ; if I go beyond a certain
point I am punished for my intemperance. There are social and com-
mercial obligations, which, if not honoured, would keep a man down in
society. Jn fact there are many limits to my liberty ; but what have
they to do with the case of Adam and that hateful tree in the garden?"

"I wanted to bring out, first," I replied, "that children are limited
by a higher will than their own, and that men also are limited by
certain laws and forces, partly beyond their control, and partly also of
their own ordering and a])poiuting, — that men limit one another, piir-
posely and necessarily ; otherwise society would be disorganized."

" Well, and what bearing has all this VT{)on the tree in I he garden ? "

"A bearing," I continued, "which I would express in this way : all
higher life must limit life that is lower than itself; man limits the
inferior animals which he employs in his service ; the parent limits
the action of the child because of the child's ignorance and inexperience ',
the employer limits the sphere of the employed, making appoint-
ments, fixing times, and requiring services ; the aggregate man called
society limits the individual man, determining boundaries, forbidding
trespasses, and enforcing penalties : so that all through life we oui-selves
do precisely in our degree what God did in the case of the first man.
Now, when you bade your child beware of the fire, or the water, or the
edged instrument, or the dangerous place, why did you put the tempta-
tion in his way 1 "

" I did not put any temptation in his way," the sceptic answered j
" it was for his own good that I warned him not to go too near the
fire."

" Very well," I continued, "when j'ou tell a man not to eat this and
not to drink that, because they are poisonous or hurtful, why do you put
the temptation in his way ? "

" I do not put the temptation in his way ; it would be for his own
safety if I warned him."

" Very well ; now when society says to a man. You must not go over
this line, or break down that fence, or disturb your neighbour, or
endanger the health of your fellow-citizens, why does the tyrannical

A PARABLE ON REVELATION, 221

power called society point out so many forbidden trees 1 why should
not all men please themselves, go where they like, aud live without
law 1 "

" Because life would not be worth having ; our security is in law.
But why could not man have had full permission to eat of every tree of
the garden 1 "

" Simply because there cannot be two infinites ; and where there is an
infinite and a finite, the finite must receive its regulations from the
infinite. Now you make too much of the merely literal term ' tree ; '
the question, however, is not one of a mere ti-ee, it is a question of the
relation of the finite to the infinite, of the creature to the Creator ; it is
quite possible so to dwell upon the word ' tree ' as to become insensible
to the great idea which it represents : that idea is one of order, of right
relationship ; there was, and ever must be, something which man might
do, and something which he might not do ; and this fact of his moral
constitution was represented (whether figuratively or litei-ally is not the
question at this moment) by his relation to a particular tree. To point
out a particular tree as one not to 1 e touched under pain of death may
appear to be arbitrary, but in reality it was a most gracious arrange-
ment. Man — as a finite creature — could not have had all power; at
some particular point he must be given to feel that he cannot go any
farther, with safety to himself, and it was better for God himself care-
fully to define the limit, and the result of trespass, than to leave man in
ignorance, and allow him to pass unknowingly beyond the prescribed
line."

" But why should there have been any prescribed line 1 " the sceptic
persistently reiterated.

" From the very necessity of the case," I answered ; " not as an arbi-
tiary arrangement, not as a capricious test of the new-made heart, but
from the very necessity of those relations which the creature must ever
sustain to the Creator. The moment you increase the number of beings
you necessitate arrangements of gradation, order, superintendence,
mutual care, and respousilnlity. When God created the first angel, an
order involving duty, obedience, and limitation was established ; there
must be a forbidden tree in all created life, in heaven as well as on earth.
We have the same principle, I repeat, in constant operation in common
life, and we could not suspend it for a day without reducing society to
chaos. When you say to a child, You may touch everything in the room
except the fire, you point out a forbidden tree ; when you tell an
apprentice that he may look into every corner of the warehouse except
into his master's private desk, you point out a forbidden tree ; when you
insist that }our expenses shall be kept within your income, you point

222 THE CITY TEMPLE.

out a forbidden tree ; when you regulate your eating and drinking,
strictly keeping them within certain limits, you point out a forbidden
tree ; every order you give, every sum you fix, every appointment you
make, goes upon the veiy principle of the forbidden tree. You cannot
get away from this principle ; it lies at the very root of all individual
discipline, it is the prime necessity of all social life. In talking about
the foi'bidden tree as you are now doing, you are proceeding upon a false
principle altogether. You suppose that God set a trap for man "

" Exactly so," said the disbeliever, " that is precisely what I complain
of — now answer that.'"

" Your supposition," I continued, "is not merely incorrect, it is insane,
according to my reading of the facts. The great principle, as it seem.s
to me, which is represented by the tree in the midst of the garden, is the
principle of self-control, and the prohibition imposed upon man involves,
not a threat, but a warning. When you tell your child that if he puts
his hand into the fire he will be burned, you do not threaten him, you
warn him, and your word should be accepted as an expression of love ;
so, when the Creator told the creature not to overstep certain boundaries
because such trespass would resr.lt in deiuh, He did not threaten man
with pvmishment. He mercifully pointed out the awful consequences of a
given course. In some cases a man punishes himself, in others he is
punished by society : you may punish a man for breaking your house,
but he punishes himself when he puts his hand into the fire ; and
this he does far more surely to himself than you can do to him ; he may
break your house, and by dexterity may escape punishment — he may run
away, he maj"^ defy you to prove his identity, he may cause innocent men
to be criminated — but when he puts his hand into the fire, the punish-
ment is instant, personal, and irresistible. It is so with our relations to
God ; they are so ordered that the consequences of sin cannot be eluded ;
we 2^uuish ourselves — we actually carry the tormentor within us."

I was proceeding in this manner when iny friend, addressing himself
to the sceptic, said, in a reflective yet animated tone :

" I see now what I never seem to have seen before ; I see that man's
own nature is the best interpreter of God's : I have always been looking
at God and God's book entirely from the outside, never through the
medium of my own nature."

" Precisely," I exclaimed ; " that is the secret of much doubt and dis-
comfort in a man's religious experience ; but if you will look narrowly
into things, you will find that man in his little sphere often does what
God himself does in His infinity."

"But," the sceptic interrupted, "could not man have been so made as
for it to have been an impossibility lor him to tall 1 "

A PARABLE ON REVELATION. 223

" No ; I say again, No. By so nnicli as a man is finite, by so much
is he fallible."

" Then why did God make creatures who might possibly fall, and who,
if they did i'all, must sutfer such horrible agonies'? "

" That is for God himself to answer," my friend interposed ; " I
believe Him to be all- wise, and though I cannot understand why He
made man at all, yet I will not doubt His wisdom. I think if we deem
ourselves clever enougli to criticise the very Being who created us, surely
the Being who made us thus wondrously clever must be wiser than any
of His creatures. Our own ability is one of the best testimonies to God's
wisdom."

I had great joy in my friend, as he said these words, and could not
but feel that sometimes even " the wrath of man," the very coarseness
of unbelief, s\ich as was painfully before us at this moment, drives the
higher order of mind to the affirmative side of truth.

" Besides," I added, " we may look at this question also from a
human stand-point. You said that you have children 1 "

" Yes."

" Do you educate them 1 "

•' Certainly."

" But is it not generally understood that the more highly any man is
educated the more is his capacity of pain increased 1 The untaught,
uncivilized barbarian suffers less than an educated citizen : why, then,
do you expose your children to the possibility of enduring much pain ] "

" Because," said he, " if tliej' make a right use of their education it
will increase their happiness. If an uneducated man has less pain, he
has also less pleasure than a man who is educated."

" That admission," said I, " grants the whole argument which I am
anxious to maintain. The very fact that man is cajjable of enduring
such ' horrible agonies,' as you say, is itself an evidence that man is
capable of proportionate joy ; and, using your own words, I would say
that if man makes a right use of his opportunities he will realize all the
gladness of which his soul is susceptible; but observe, all depends upon
the relation in which a man sets himself towards his opportunities."

" There is another point, too," said my friend ; " if you had a figure
fashioned in the form of a child, made of marble, you would have a child
incapable of suflTeiing. But would you care for such a child 1 Or take
it in another way : suppose you had a child which no rebuke could ever
pain, which no fire could ever bui-n, which no knife could ever cut — an
uninipressible insensate clod ; would you not think that such a child
was more than a monster 1 Now the point which our Christian friend
wi.shes to illustrate is, that the gate, so to speak, by which pain enters

224 TUE CITY TEMPLE.

is the very gate by which pleasure enters, that a man's capacity of
suffering is also his capacity of enjoyment."

" Well, but what I feel," said the sceptic, " is this : it seems to me
that man could not help falling ; he was fated to fall, and as he could
not help it, it was too bad to punish him for doing what he could not
help doing."

" Then," said I, "you simply make out that man is a fool; now
remember that you are a man, and let me put a question or two to your
i-eason and conscience ; when you go home to day you may find that your
servant has stolen some of your property ; will it satisfy you to learn
that your servant is of opinion that she was fated to be a thief, and that
she could not help stealing your goods? "

''No; but then I did not make my servant, and God did make
man."

" Truly so ; and for that very reason you should be the more lenient
to your servant. Why don't you say — ' This woman did not make
herself; she cannot help her organization ; she was fated to be a thief;
if she had made herself I should have punished her ; but as she did not
make herself, I will pity and forgive her % ' why don't you talk in that
style 1 •'

" Or," my friend suggested, " why have magistrates and judges 1 The
practice of common life condemns the theory of the fatalist ; why should
not the magistrates say, ' These prisoners were made by God ; they were
fated to be felons ; let us commiserate their awful fate, and put up as
well as we can with their felonious courses V "

" Quite so," said I ; "or put the same thing in another form : on
your way houie a man knocks you down and uses you brutally ; would
you say, ' Poor fellow ! he was fated to do it ; he could not help himself;
he must be faithful to his peculiar organization :' would you talk so 1
You could not talk in this style, unless your doctrine were so far true
as to prove that you yourself were fated to be worthy of such treatment.
Now, instead of talking about man in the abstract, or the first man, fix
your attention upon yourself : there are two courses before you ; in
leaving this house, you may leave as an honest man, or you. may secretly
appropriate some of my property : do you mean to say that you really
cannot help taking something which is not your own"? — mark my words,
' really cannot help it,' have no will in the matter, you are literally com-
pelled to be a thief % "

" Certainly not ; I am not so far gone as that."

" This, however," said I, " is not a question of being ' so far gone :'
it is a question of nature, not of habit. Now answer this question :
would you allow the plea of fate to save any man from the punishment
which theft, or murder or forgery, or embezzlement deserves?"

A PARABLE OX REVELATION.

22o

" Of course I should not ; it is due to society to punish the criminal.
But my point is this — when the criminal goes before (Jod may he not
charge upon his Maker the peculiarity of his constitution, and reproach
his Maker for having allowed him to be placed in circumstances which
overbore him 1 "

" My answer is— Certainly not. The criminal will not, upon sober
reflection, do that even now. He may have a fatalistic creed, and
by long habit may have come into a desperate condition of depravity ;
but take him before he has become the slave of his habits, and press him
solemnly with the inquiry — Have you 7io powp.r to resist the temptation to
commit crirne ? And as a simple matter of fact he will at least hesitate
before pronouncing himself a mere machine ; and by so much as any
man has even the power of deliberation as to which of two courses he
Avill adopt, by so much he bears practical testimony to his responsibility.
Mark that : eiien the j^ower of deliberation ; if he has any faculty of
calculating chances, any choice between this plan and that ; if he
can think, arrange, alter his plans, enlai'ge them, postpone them, or
modify them in any degree whatsoever, then by so much he proves
himself a responsible being, and responsibility is irreconcileable with
fatalism.''

•' Besides," my friend suggested, " something is due to the testimony
of universal consciousness ; the whole heart of society goes directly
against the doctrine of irresponsibility: all social instincts cry out against
it ; it is not tolerated in the family, or in business, or in magistracy, or
anywhere ; it is an insult to human nature ; it gives the lie to our per-
sonal consciousness."

My friend spoke with warmth, and as it appeared to me with truth
which could not be gainsaid. The sceptic then shifted his ground,
commencing his attack from this point :

" Biit why should the innocent suffer for the guilty 1 What have we
to do with the sin of the first man 1"

'' The innocent must always suffer for the guilty," was my rejjly ;
" it is a necessity of all related life. I undertake to show that you would
do in this matter precisely what you condemn in the government
of God."

" How so ? " said the sceptic.

" If you had a man in your service who had forged your name to a
document, what course would you adopt V

'• I should bring him to punishment, certainly."

" But su2>pose the man had a wife and family dependent upon him,
would you not for their sakes pardon the offence and continue to employ
the man 1 "

" Certainly not ; for many reasons, too : / have also a family to jiro-
vide for, and if the man were to repeat his offence he might in time

226 THE CITY TEilPLE.

bring ruin upon me and my house; besides, as we liave said already, we
owe it to society to punish the criminal."

" But if you deprived the criminal of his employment, would you not
cause his family to suffer 1"

" Certainly; but he would be responsible for that."

" And if, in addition to depriving the criminal of employment, you
imprisoned him, would not his family, perhaps his yet unborn family,
suffer in some degree for the sins of their father 1 "

" No doubt of it."

" Have we not, then, in the outworking of common daily life this
vicarious principle in constant operation — the innocent suffering for the
guilty 1 "

" Yes, we have, as a mere matter of fact ; but could it not have
been otherwise with advantage 1 "

*' Certainly not; just see what purposes such a principle serves, or
might serve ; it shows the unity of human life — no man lives unto him-
self, humanity is a chain, and from link to link a common influence
runs ; it shows the influence of human action, and should propor-
tionately restrain men from evil courses ; it developes the best instincts
of human nature, causing man to consider the effect of his conduct upon
others, and educating man upon a basis of true socialism, lifting him out
of his contracted individuality, and making him a responsible member of
a universal family."

" In addition to that," ray friend said, " it ought to be pointed out
that there is an equitable principle in the whole arrangement; it does
not operate on one side only, as the objection which has been started
would seem to imply ; if the innocent suffer for the guilty, the guilty
enjoy advantages from the innocent ; and if children sufier for the evil
deeds of their parents, they also reap the benefits of a good parentage.
This is not a one-sided arrangement at all. If a man disgraces himself
in business, his children will suffer ; and if he honours himself in busi-
ness, his children will reap the advantage. I think this ought to be
pointed out, lest it should be thought that the argument is all upon the
side of suffering."

" Well, but," the sceptic said, "look at the case of a little child who
is in pain : it cannot express its wants : day and night it may be in
torture ; what has that little thing done to deserve such agony ] Is it
not enough that men should sufter for their own sins, without suffering
for the sins of other people % "

" We have answered the latter question already," I said ; " it is
impossible to confine the influence — whether good or bad — of moral
actions to the actor. If you do a vicioas deed in your family, it may tell

A PAKABLE ON REVELATION. 227

upon the chafacfcer of your children, and if you do a good deed it may
ennoble and inspire them. With regard to the child suffering, we must
be careful not to exalt a sentiment into a law : man must be given to
feel the necessarily terrible consequences of sin ; and in some cases, as
the y)enalty of sin has come through the ])ai-ent to the child, so the
clieck upon sin has passed from the child to the parent. Many a man
has been benefited by the sufferings of his child ; he could not have
been reached in any other way, but such suffering has brought him to
reflection and contrition."

"Well, little children could have been spared suffering at any rate,"
said the unbeliever.

"Then you make out that you are more anxious about children than
God is," said I ; " and a man should be very cai-eful how he exalts his
own sentiments of compassion above God's. Besides, your own reasoning
comes to this: — 'God made me; He ci'eated all this generous feeling
towards little suffering children ; He has actually made me more gentle
and compassionate than He is Himself; I am more Divine than God ! '
Yet you confessed a moment ago that you would punish the man who
forged your name, though his wife and children would suffer through
his sin ! "

" Yes," said the sceptic, " that is all right so far as the world is now
constituted : according to the present constitution of things, T confess
that events must go ^^retty much as you have hinted ; but what I want
to know is, Whether the loorld could not have been arranged upon some
totally different plan, so that we migld have escaped these things ?'

" Upon that subject," I said, " my mind is at perfect rest. God made
the world ; God is the author of human nature ; God is infinitely wise ;
what I cannot understand now I may be able to understand hereafter ;
as a creature of limited powers, I deem it right to defer to the under-
standing of God. Life would be a poor thing if we had no mysteries to
quicken our mind, or no difficulties to engage our powers "

At this point my friend looked as if he wished to say something ; I
gave him the opportunity, and he said, —

" I have been thinking about suffering children ; I recollect what you
said to me on the occasion of our second interview. You said that, if I
had known it, there was a letter for me on the death of my own child,
and that the letter said ' of such is the kingdom of heaven.' Now I have
been thinking in this way : a child suffers and dies, but all children, if
your creed be right, go to heaven ; if they live to be men they may, also
assuming your creed to be true, risk the opportunity of doing so, may in
fact go to perdition : now, on your ground, may this not be looked at as
a compensation ? "

22S THE CITY TEMPLE.

" Certainly," I replied ; " no child is damned on account of his fore-
runners' sin ; as a necessity of his relation to those forerunners he must
in many ways suffer, as he may in other ways profit ; but so far as the
future world is concerned, no child, no man, suffers for any sins but his
own. Then think of Jesus Christ in relation to little children ; He loves
them with all His love, pronounces the kingdom of heaven to be of such,
and takes them from their sufferings into rest and joy,"

" I must say I like that idea," said my friend.

" Well, gentlemen," said the unbeliever, " you may sentimentalise in
this way if you like ; but for my part I shall follow the light of science ;
this is the age of science ; everything must give way to science ; and,
depend upon it, science will overturn your antiquated and preposterous
religious beliefs. Why, just look at a recent discovery : a scientific man
has shown that all physical life has a common basis ; if you micro-
scopically examine the broad end of one of the little spikes, if I may so call
them, which grow upon the leaf of a nettle, you will find in it precisely
the same germ or base which you will find in a drop of human blood,
clearly showing that we are all merely natural growths — now tJiat" he
added with much self-satisfaction, " is the kind of positive teaching which
satisfies my mind."

" But not mine," I replied. " Pardon me for saying that you treat
your science very unscientifically. Take the case of the nettle. I might
say a word upon the difference between the terms, ' physical basis of
life,' and 'the basis of physical life :" the former is intensely dogmatic,
the latter is correct. But I don't pause upon this point ; I rather ask
you, what about the other end of your nettle spike ? In the case of man
we have a ' nettle ' that can sin and suffer, that can plan gi-eat projects
and carry them out, that can wiite poems and paint pictures, that
can write books and make laws, and it is this end of the ' nettle ' that I
wish you to think about, and it is to this end of the ' nettle ' that the
religious argument addresses itself Christianity does not seek to analyse
yoiir blood but to save your soul ; Christianity does not forbid you to
study science, but it urges upon you considerations which involve the
destiny of your being."

[The conchiding paragraph is omitted for want of room. It is a summary and
applicatiou of the Christian argument.]

% 'parable

ON DEMONIACAL POSSESSION.

BY

JOSEPH PAEKEE.

delivered
In the Poultry Chapel, on Thursday Morning, February 3rd, 1870.

Picture to yourselves a man of lofty stature and beaming coixntenance,
one of tlie noblest specimens of the human race — strong, dignified,
majestic. Think of him sitting at the door of his dwelling as the
summer sun is glowing in the far west, having around him a group of
loving children, who delight to call him " father," and vie with each
other in many playful attempts to I'ouse him from an unusual fit of
silence. They have never feai'ed him ; his approach has always added to
their joy ; they have ever hung upon him with nndoubting trust and
love. They had good reason to do so. Probably he had no superior in
the country of ■which he was the pride. When strangers passed him,
they turned to admire his towering stature and kingly carriage. Nor
was tliere one sign of repelling haughtiness upon his noble face ; at the
sight of a little child it would expand into a luminous smile, and a tender
concern would sadden it when in presence of tottering old age or incu-
rable pain. It was no act of constrained courtesy, or pretentious conde-
scension, on his part, to pick a wayside flower for an unknown child, or
to guard infirm travellers from the dangers of the busy thoroughfare.
What he did, he did with charming naturalness ; what he said, he said
with manly simplicity. No honest man ever had occasion to fear him ;
no unjust person could feel quite easy in his presence. A kind of

20

230 THE CITY TEMPLE.

spiritual sunlight seemed to accompany him, which not only caused hi.s
own character to stand out with perfect distinctness, but gave unexpected
revelations of the character of others. His domestic life was a scene of
happiness : adored by the wife of his yoiith, loved with all the love of
his children's hearts, he was at rest in his house as a man without a sus-
picion or a fear — so strong, yet so tender ; so mighty to defend, so gentle
to console ; courtly enough for the society of princes, simple enough for
the plainest of his neighbours : his very presence was an inspiration ;
weak people felt that his strength was their own, young uieu set him
before them as their ideal of manhood. One look would convince the
observer that, to physical advantages of the highest rank, he added
intellectual powers of no mean order : the form of his head, the steadi-
ness and lustre of his piercing eye, the lines upon his face, showed that
he was no stranger to careful and exciting thouglit. He had, indeed,
long been acciistomed to the kind of thinking that always brings suffer-
ing in its train — not cold speculation, but study that troubles the heart
with many a bold a.ssault upon its most valued trusts. There is a style
of so-called thinking which is merely a mental amusement ; there is also
a thinking which strains the heart to the point of agony. The rugged
lines cut into that solemn yet glowing face showed how much the heart
had been engaged in this man's thinking. In many a lonely wandering
in the deep ravine, and over the rocks which lay within easy distance of
the splendid metropolis in whicli he resided, he had watched as if for an
angel which should tell him Divi secrets, and had prayed to be saved
from the delirium which comes of intellectual trespass iipon the sacred
])rovinces of God. Death had visited his house, and twice turned the
cradle into a coffin, and he had not forgiven death for that great sorrow.
The problem of Providence — the government which turns into a tor-
mentiug enigma the course of every-day affairs — he vainly attempted to
solve, for he did but find in every answer another and deeper question.
These experiences left their mark upon him : they ennobled, yet sad-
dened, the expression of his countenance, and threw into his voice a
chastened and pathetic tone. On the evening referred to he had been
sitting at his door for most of an hour, in a silence which the mirth of
his children could not tlioroughly break : whilst looking at his little ones
he seemed to be looking far beyond them ; in answering their questions
he seemed to be listening to unseen interi'ogators ; and when his hand
was put out towards them, it seemed as if an invisible power was pulling
it in another direction. Only the sunset before he had sat in the same
place, calm and eveii joyful — to-night he is as one hovering on the brink
of a troubled world, through whose shadows he can see nothing of light.

A rARABLS O.N Dj'i:MON^\CAL rOSSESSIOX.

231

Having this morning sanctified liis house by praise and prayer'
addressed to the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, he proceeded
to engage in his customary Avoi-k, Tender was his adieu to his house-
hold— not, perhaps, in i-eality tenderer than usual, certainly not inten-
tionally so-— yet, in the gloomy days which soon came upon her, his wife
I'ecalled with mournful satisfaction the pathos of his farewell. She knew
that he had spent many hours in painful and fruitless endeavour to
understand the ways of God amongst the children of men, and now and
then, with all the skill of that blessed love which sj^eaks from a distance
that softens its tone to the ear of j^ain, she had sought to remind him of
the manifold practical blessings with which human life had been enriched,,
and which should protect the miud from the insidious temptation which
comes from the side of m3-stery. His recognition of these blessings was
most grateful and emphatic, yet he turned from the light with anxious
desire to dispel every shadow wliich lingered on the way of God. This
morning his prayer was hardly free from implied reflection upon the
government of the world, especially upon the permission of death to
destroy the life of children ; still there was nothing in his tone to indi-
cate an unusual state of mind^ or to excite uneasiness or appi-ehension^
The mystery of the world had been to him so long a burden, that those
who knew him best had ceased to wonder at the melancholy which
shadowed his worship. On his way to the confines of the city, where
awaited him the engagements of this particular da^', a mighty wind sud-
denly arose ; now it wailed as if in pain, and then it roared as if in
defiance or triumph. For a moment it became subdued, and instantly it
rushed in shattering shocks, and tore the trees which clothed the deep
ravine, as if the A'ery spirit of vengeance had been let loose upon them.
No other traveller was in sight, yet a voice distinctly addressed the
lonely man :

'•' Bitter, infinitely bitter," said the Voice, in a whisper, which chilleci
him.

He paused : he looked, but there was no sign of a presence. He
turned his eyes to the cloud wliich had just thrown a shadow over him,
but no figure gave it shape or meaning.

" Yes," continued the unearthly Voice, di-awing, if possible, still
nearer the astounded man ; " accursed be His power ; may His throne
fall and His sceptre rot. Amen — amen," it groaned, in a stifled
manner.

The man, though brave and fearless in all the ordinary relations of

232 THE CITY TEMPLE.

life, v,'as .stricken with liorror ; liot drops started from liis brow, to Ijo
followed quickly by a chill, whicli made him shiver. With parched, and
reluctant lips, he conld only say :

" Who— what "

And as he spoke it seemed as if heavy wings were softly flapping in
the now quiet wind.

" Sitting there," continued the ghostly Voice, in the same sad tone ;
"sitting there with His feet \ipon the humbled world, seeing men perish
and devils suffer, yet never spending a thought of mercy upon them ;
pleasing His vanity by making suns and blowing them out, keeping up a
treacherous peace in His stately halls by driving away the noble angels
that ask a question or suggest a doubt. O — 0 would I could strike ofl
the pillars of His proud throne, and bring him for one hour into the lake
of fire ! "

The Yoice seemed to be nearer still, speaking not only in the ear but
in the very soul

" Poor men — poor men; praying to a God who never hears them."

The lonely listener was bound to the spot, though anxious to move.
He was uuder a spell which he had no power to break. The Voice
was mightier than an arm.

"Man," said the Voice, with fuller em})hasis, "speak freely to me and
thou shalt be safe ; I will comfort thee at least with such poor comfort
as we can have so long as lie drops the poison of His sovereignty into
the fountains of the universe. I will watch thee, I will comfort thee, I
will show thee wiiere alone thou canst have a moment's rest. I will
lead thee to a spot on which He seldom deigns to look, and which is
therefore blest. Tell nie, 0 man, though thou art strong in body hast
thou not had sorrows which darken and weaken the soul T'

The listener was dumb : self-control was utterly lost.

'^' le.s," continued the voice, "thy silence is right; we know thee
well ; thou hast had sorrow upon sorrow, even to the breaking of thy
heart ; thou hast no fool's brain, yet often has it been on the point of
madness when thinking upon His crooked and unequal ways."

Suddenly there was a sound in the air as of much subdued yet mock-
ing laughter, and in unconsciously turning, as if to see whence the sound
proceeded, the eye of the traveller descried the dim outline of a pro-
cession moving towards the tombs.

" Again, again, and every hour," the voice continued ; " see yonder,
O man ; knowest thou those that mourn % Knowest thou what they
cany? It is their only child — their idol, and He allowed the little life
to perish, whilst He was occupied in receiving the applauding hallelujahs
of a servile host that would slay Him if they could. We saw the child

A PARABLE OX DEMONIACAL TOSSESSION. 233

die ; we counted the 1)itter tears of those who loved him ; we pitied but
could not help the sufferers ; and there they now go to lay on the ban-
(^ueting-table of Death the very treasure of their hearts ;" and as the
Voice so said, the fiendish laughter was repeated.

" Thou rememberest, O man, when thine own little girl died 1"
The listener fell to the ground, as if smitten by an irresistible arm.
" Thou dost • thy love hath an imperishable memoiy ; that same night
I was near thee ; I saw thee again and again fall upon thy knees in a
secret chamber, and I heard thy sobbing pra3'er to Him thou callest
God. It was a useless prayer ; He was making suns, and banishing
angels, and raining fire into the bottomless pit, and doing other mighty
things that better become a God than drying human tears. He could
have spared thy little gii-1 ; she might have been M'ith thee to-day."
Again the air was shaken by a mocking sound, and the poor man clung
to the dust as if in fear he .should be borne away.

" And thy brightest boy, too, I remember ; when he died I was there ;
I saw thee smile at the child to comfort him, when thy manly heart was
breaking with grief. I saw thee retire to wring thy helpless hands in
mortal agony, and then come back to smile at the child ; I knew how
much that smile cost thee ; I saw all the wondei^ful display of thine
innocent hypocrisy, and I blessed thee for it. He, too, saw it, but He
came not to thy help ; He looked coldly down through the courses of the
stars, and allowed thee to sufier on throiigh all the dreary hours ; He
Avas playing with the lightning. He was marshalling the timid angels in
eccentric order. He was showing His craven idolators how grand a tiling
it is to be a God."

By this time there seemed to be a great number of invisible presences
in the yet wailing, though less tempestuous, wind. The Voice continued,
as if its complaint would never end, —

" They who know nothing of Him call Him Father. I say it is a
lie. He can see men lose their pi-operty, lose their children, lose their
reason, and spend their days in drivelling idiotcy or raging madness, and
never cease His star-making, His angel-taming, and His comet-driving.
Could I pluck yonder key of hell from His fiery girdle " — [here the legion
shook in concert with helpless rage or rekindled ambition] — " O could I,
could I escape that hateful eye that follows me cA'ery where ! Did He
but sleep one hour in a hundred yeai's, I would steal upon Him in His
shimber, and He should be God no more ; I would sit upon His throne,
and men should be blessed, little children should never die, no orphan
should be found in all the earth, for tears there should be light and
peace. Would that I were God ! "

" Sluill ^ve dwell with thee, O man "?" said the Voice, after a momentary

234 THE CITV TEMPLE.

pause ; " we will gviavd tliee ; we will share tliy griefs, and take nothing

from thy little joy ; we will help thy thinking, and guide thee to right

conclusions."

*******

Suddenly, in the very fulness of his strength, his countenance glowing
with unnatural animation, the lonely man stood erect, and with frantic
energy demanded—

" Who speaks to me of my girl in heaven — of my dear boy with
God ? "

But there was no change in the low, didl tone of the ^"oice. " Heaven,"
it said, " there is none for thy children, poor man, deluded by the hope
that has mocked all ages ; they die, and are as the glittering insects that
perish ; thou thinkest of them as winged angels rejoicing in the un-
clouded liglit. Alas ! thy thought is but a dream ; thy children are in
yonder tombs, they are not in heaven."

" Lie, lie, cruel lie," screamed the frantic man, '•' what I hear is a lie !
Rachel is in heaven ; Benjamin is in heaven ; my children are as angels
in God's house !"

" O man deluded," said the Voice, " I tell thee, tell thee sadly, thou
livest in a mocking dream ; we pity thee, yet we teach thee truth ; thy
little children, dear for ever to the memory of thy love, are as lights
blown out ; thou couldst not find them in all the chambers of His blazing
creation. Hear us, O man, hear us, and be wise. We know Him better
than He can be known by the creatures of yesterday who call themselves
men. Ten thousand tliousand years have we watched Him from afar ;
He is a great God, making worlds that He may crush them, creating
hearts that He may break them, kindling fires that He may torture all
whom He dislikes : we have watched His ways through imnumbered
ages ; for unnumbered ages we have shivered at His footstool as unwilling
suppliants ; for unnumbered ages we have been crushed by His ponderous
foot ; it is only for want of equal strength that we have so suffered ; our
spirit is yet \intamed ; we hate His presence, we i-eseaat His rule, and
though He makes our hell intolerable, we delight to ciiise Him to His
face. Seest thou j^onder pool which men call a sea % It is but a drop
compared with the mighty waters with which we are acquainted. Oh, to
have seen what our pitying eyes have beheld on those stormy deeps —
husbands and Avives, parents and children, crying through the tempest
that He might come and help them, and just as their thrilling prayer
reached the point of agony, a thundering billow has dashed the vessel
into ruin, and the A'oice of prayer was heard no more, — this is God, —
this is Father !"

The wind ceased, and as it subsided another Voice said —

A PARABLE ON DEMONIACAL POSSESSION. 235

" We will return to thee, and comfort tliee, at tlie time of the setting
of the sun.''

II.

There has been great commotion in the city to-day. Men who never
spoke to each otlier before have been seen in deep conversation, and men
who have long been mutually estranged have been brought together by
some absorbing event. Groups have been suddenly formed, and suddenly
dispersed. Little children have spoken to their parents with premature
seriousness, and parents have gathered their children to their heai'ts with
moi-e than ordinary tenderness. The whole city, in short, has been roused,
and all its customary movements have been checked by a most terrible
paralysis.

" Poor man," said an aged speaker, " I saw him almost flying in the
direction of the warm springs, and God mercifully grant that I may never
again see such an expression on the face of man."

Let us walk through one of the city thoroughfares, and learn what we
can from one or two of the many excited and ever-changing groups.

" Never, never, did I see such a sight ; poor woman, so young, so
beautiful ; lier heart-breaking cries were intolerable ; she insisted on
throwing her arms around him, and in the most pitiful tones slie asked if
lie did not know her — and did jou ever see such a look as he gave her ?
Oh, those eyes, those eyes !"

" And as for his st^'ength," said another, " we were like little children
in his hands ; we threw fetters and chains upon him, but he snapped
them like threads, and flung them from him with a fiendish yell of
laughter — when we spoke^to him about his children, he lifted his clenched
hand and shook it in the face of the sun, and then he roared like a
beast of the forest."

"And so good he was to us all," said a white-haired man, bent by the
burden of many years ; " he never gave me an hour's pain, and when his
mother lay a-dying she blessed him for an obedience that never wavered.
He never caused sorrow to her who bare him : O my son, my son ! would
to God I had died liefore this day !"

" We are but at the beginning of trouble," said a grave-looking man,
in a firm and i-eproachful tone, " I have foreseen this, — it does not take
me by surpi-ise ; I forewarn you all — we have fallen on an evil time —
man cannot blaspheme with impunity,"

•' Explain, explain ; keep silence that he may explain !"

"To explain is easy," continued the undaunted sj)eaker. "I met the
infuriated man, and to me he unintentionally i-evealed the awful secret
of his madness-."

236 THE CITY TEMPLE,

See how eagerly the crowd presses upon the speaker — how breathless
is the silence !

" I was returning from the warm springs this morning, when I saw an
excited figure apj)roaching me ; the head was iincovered ; the hair was
dishevelled ; the eyes were like the balls of a tiger. The man came
quite near me ; he put his face close to mine, and through clenched teeth
he said, with burning breath, in a long, hissing tone, ^ Jesus Christ,'' and
then passed away like a flying dart."

" Let the deceiver be destroyed," said many voices, "lest we and our
children perish."

" He must he destroyed," continued the speaker, " or we shall fall
under the just judgment of God; He will not give His glory unto another;
it hath grieved me, as one who humbly sitteth in Moses' seat, to see
how all the w-orld hath gone after this deceiver, and how many of
yourselves have given heed to his blasphemous doctrines — he is of
that wicked One. '

" Say not so," exclaimed a poor woman, whose eyes showed too
plainly that to sorrow she was no stranger — a woman often called a
" sinner."

" Enough !" said an earnest-looking man, " we do but waste time
in useless words : we must ari5?e and pursue the suffering man, and
see if he can be recovered to those who love him, to his venerable
father and his crushed children. Are there not in all the city twelve
men who will, in the strength of God, give themselves to the work
of finding and taming this infuriated sufferer ] I have known him
from his youth ; much did he troul)le his mind witli questions too
high for creatures of a day ; often he broke out into siidden prayer —
he seemed to see the invisible ; the hard question was never out of
his thoughts, yet many of us knew of his kindness to the poor " — [here
there was a subdued murmur of approbation in the little crowd]; — '• and I
am sui'c tliei'e must be twelve men in this metropolis who will give them-
selves to seek his restoration : that there be no confusion among us, hear
me further — The man was seen by many in the street that is called
Straight ; he was traced to the dangerous side of the rocks, and when
the most humane men dared not further follow him by reason of fear,
they heard a cry among the tombs which caused their bones to tremhle :
among the tombs we shall surely find him this day — who will go, hoping
in the blessed God to be saved from all evil ?"

"What about his home"?" inquired an unknown voice; "he may
return, and slay those who love him,"

" Let his home be watched by strong men," said the speaker ; " his

A PARABLE ON DEMONIACAL POSSESSION.

237

wife and cliileren must Le guarded, for nought is so terrible as tlie mad-
ness of love.' '

" Let liim see liis children, and he will be recovered of his plague :
Jesus Christ loves children," said a young woman who carried her first-
born in her arms,

" No, no," said the lost man's father, " that will never do. His poor
children would not know him. I can never forget their scream when
they saw him this morning ; they will not be calm for many days— Oh,
my son, my son !"

III.

How sadly the days and weeks passed in the darkened liome of those
v/ho most deeply mourned this heavy affliction can never be explained.
In that gloomy abode there was but one topic of conversation, and all
griefs were forgotten in the one absorbing sorrow. Life was no longer
a joyous progress ; it was but a dull oscillation between the happy past
and the dreaded future. It was long before the children had courage to
pass the threshold of the home which had now become a prison. Often
in their innocent .sleep did they shudder as if in alarm, and by day many
a piercing question was left unfinished lest their mother's spirit should
be utterly overwhelmed. Too soon did those little children learn the art
of self-restraint in their mother's presence — too soon was it laid upon them
to find a hiding-place for many a question in their own suffering hearts.
Yet, time brought a measure of healing to the children. Little by
little they felt prepared to play in the sunshine ; little by little they
yielded themselves to the cheerfulness natural to their tender
years, though tliey never quite escaped the shadow of their mother's
abiding grief. No sunlight ever penetrated that cloud ; it turned her
life into one continuous and most melancholy night. Do not all great
changes come suddenly 1 Does not God try us and strengthen us by the
apparent abruptness of His interpositions 1 Morning comes gradually,
and night comes by an appointed course ; yet God often comes as ifinf^*
haste, and not seldom arises upon us from unexpected places.

" Oh, mother !" exclaimed one of the children who had been playing at
some little distance from her home, "Oh, mother! I have seen our
father ; he will be here in a moment."

Instantly every precaution was taken to guard the house ; and a low
wailing prayer escaped the poor woman's trembling lips as she gathered
her pale and quaking children around her. The little messenger had
given no false alarm, but, instead of the shattering blow which was
expected, the door was touched by a gentle hand.

238 THE CITY TEMPLE.

" It cannot be father, dear," whispered the mother ; " I must ask who
it is."

The answer Avas given in a manly and most pathetic voice —

" Let me come in, my blessed ones — have no fear — I have seen Jesus,
and He has made all things new !"

The woman's love — oh, so divine, so inexhaustible is that pure love —
admitted of no suspicion : in a moment she was locked in her husband's
mighty yet gentle embrace, and his children clung to him, and screamed
for very joy. Yes, it was he ; the clear eyes were full of the brightness
of love j the manly voice was the richer for the emotion which made it
tremble ; there was no sign of painful thought on the open brow ; he
seemed to be invested with the freshness and bloom of renewed youth,
and to have gotten the victoxy over the fear of death.

******

"Blessed be the Christ of God !" sobbed the poor woman.

" Yea, blessed for evermore," said the recovered man ; and a befitting
silence fell on the weeping, yet grateful and adoring group.

" Oh, to have' seen Him is heaven ! You cannot tell how dear He is
to my heart. Often men sought me, but their very kindness seemed to
be selfish. I thought I saw hypoci'isy in their very earnestness ; Ijut

when Jesus spoke to me ;" and the rest was said in many tears.

* ;;-, * * * *

"I wanted to remain with Him — to keep close to His side — never to
be out of His sight any more ; but He said to me (and oh, it was so like
Him), ' Go home to thy friends, and tell them how great things the Lord
hath done for thee, and hath had compassion on thee.' Tliese are His
blessed words."

" And ever blessed be His dear name," said the poor woman ; " He
has been thy Saviour and mine."

"And blessed be the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, Avho
has sent His son to save poor men. Jesus tells of no new God. He
says God is love, and that God would not willingly let any man die. Oh,
you should see Him and hear Him, so beautiful is the expression of
His countenance, so tender and so grand are the tones of His blessed
voice ! "

"And Jesus himself sent you to us V the thankful wife inquired.

" Yes, or I never could have couie. The devil took me away and
Jesus sent me back. The devil would break up all happy homes, and
Jesus would make all homes happy. Tlie devil put bad thoughts into
jny mind : he made me suspect God's goodness ; he pretended to sympa-
thise with me in the great sorrows we had endui'ed ; he made me great

A PARABLE ON DEMONIACAL POSSESSION, 239

promises, and I madly believed him Thou canst never

know what I have suffered. Thou hast never wandered through the
cokl, cokl chambers of death. TIiou knowest not the torment of
hell "

* * * # * #

The rejoicing wik^ had many a question to ask. Gladly would she
luive known all the bitterness of the cup which her husband had drunk ;
yet, as a wise woman, she never made one reference to the awful past.
She ever spoke of tlie bright future^ and never did her tone give suspi-
cion of desj^air. She was to her husband as another Saviour. She
listened well, and when explanation fliiled, she pondered the mystery in
heart.

The yovmgest of the little children was as attentive as the rest ; the
large tears stood in her dilated and glowing eyes, and when the narrative
ceased she said, with a pathos mighty in its simplicity — ''■Dear Jesus.'''

An aged man, tottering on his staff, came into the house, and compre-
hending at a glance all that had hai3pened, paused for a moment — for a
moment only- — and then said in stifled tones, " This my son was dead and
is alive again ! "

IV.

A great crowd is gathered in the market-place. "We have no difficulty
in discovering the cause of the tumult ; the Scribes and Pharisees are
in controversy with the disciples of Jesus Christ, and the argument is
going heavily against the illiterate and immature Christians. Learned
allusions to the prophetic record have confounded the disciples, whose
ignoi-ance has drawn down upon them the contempt of tlie crowd. Every
attempt at reply has been received with mocking laughter, so much so
that the courage of the disciples is clearly declining. But see ! A noble
figure rises above the crowd — there is evident determination in that
grand face ; and the voice, why, it peals like a trumpet — hear the
man : —

'' Rabbis, holy priests, learned men, suffer me to speak. I shall not
attempt to compete with you in the sacred learning which has been the
.special duty of your lifetime, but I ask you, Have you seen Jesus ?
Have you met Him in any deep affliction 1 Do you know His tenderness,
His love. His power ] Hear me, ye grave and venerable men ; hear me,
ye trifling and clamorous youths. I speak not of hard books, or of studies
which try the mind ; I .speak of my own life, and as a man redeemed
from the power of the enemy, I solemnly demand to be heard."

" Speak on," said the crowd, touched by the heroism of the speaker.

240 THE CITY TEMPLE.

" I was possessed of a legion of devils ; day and night I jjrowled among
the tombs fiercer than a beast of prey. I have cut myself with stones,
and wallowed in my own blood ; my life has been set on fire of hell ;
iron could not bind me, scourges could not tame me ; my wife's love was
turned into terror, my blessed children fled from me as from an incarnate
devil, which indeed I was. I know what it is to be without God and
without hope in the world ; to be branded of God, to be shunned of men,
and to live on the desolate border-land between earth and hell. Under
these circumstances no Scribe came near me ; no learned man pursued
me in the perilous way ; no Pharisee found my dreary retreat ;
but this same Jesus, whom ye have reviled in my hearing, met
me, and His blessed face was as the rising of the sun . At first His
beauty was a torment to me, all the hell Avithin me recoiled from the
lustre of His righteousness ; but with mighty and gracious power He
rebuked the devils that possessed me, and when He had cast them forth,
causing them to flee before the lightning of His omnipotent word, He
healed and comforted me, and I said with our sweet singer, ' Thou
restorest 'my soul ! ' I would have remained with Him, and been His
grateful slave all the days of my life ; these hands should have worked
for Him ; these feet should have run at His bidding — but, hear me ye
scornful men, and let your scorning be tui-ned into prayer — did He
seek such compensation for my healing, did He demand my presence
as a sign of His power, or a tx'ibute to His personal glory. When I
clung to Him, and prayed to remain with Him for ever, He said,
' No ; thou hast friends at home, a wife whose love still goes out after
thee in unceasing prayer, children who feel the coldness of the bitterest
orphanage, a sorrowing father who desires to be spared to see his son
born to him again, go home to them, and tell them how the Lord hath
had compassion on thee, and done great things for thee.' 0 ye learned
rabbis, ye saintly men of every name, don't attempt in my hearing to
to say one word, or breathe one whisper, against Jesus of Nazareth ; I
owe all I am and all I have to Jesus of Nazareth ; He is my light and
my salvation ; had I a thousand worlds I should poiir their unworthy
riches at the feet of Jesus of Nazareth ; revile Him if you can — heap your
corriipting falsehood on His holy name — prostitute your learning to
the cause of the enemy — but I charge you before the God of Abraham,
of Isaac, and of Jacob, and in the presence of the angels that watch the
v.mjs, of men, that ye never foi'get that ye have heard this day that one
poor slave of the devil owes his redemption and his hope to Jesus Christ,
the Son of God."

And no man could answer him a word.

C|c (Citg Ceni|)lc.

EELATED BY

JOSEPH PAEKEE,

In the Poultry Chapel, on Thursday Morning, February 10th, 1870.

Almighty God, do Thou most mercifully lead us into the mystery of
prayer, and enable us, whilst communing with Thee in the Spirit, to
receive blessings which are suited to oiir special experiences. It is our
joy to believe that Thou knowest our case in all its minuteness and
urgency, and that there is nothing in our life which is hidden from Thine
eye. There is no difficulty too great for the living God ; there is no
sorrow which He cannot touch and heal by His infinite compassion and
gi'ace. We desix-e to rejoice in these convictions ; we would find in
them our constant and abounding strength ; when other solaces fail us
we would fall back on the mighty succour of these eternal truths ; in
this way would we have bread to eat which the world knoweth not of,
and here would we find a peace which the world cannot take away.
Men do not understand one another, men do not understand themselves ;
we are constantly contradicting our OAvn experiences ; we are not to-day
what we were yesterday ; we cannot find out ourselves unto perfection,
and all our attempts to secui-e blessings utterly fail when conceived iu
our own wisdom and directed by our own strength. But Thou knowest
us altogether ; Thou knowest our down-sitting and our up-rising ; there

21

242 THE CITY TEMPLE.

is not a thought in our heart, tliere is not a word on our tongue, but
lo ! O Lord, Thou knowest it altogether. We rejoice in Thine omni-
secince because of Thy loving-kindness ; were Thine omniscience to
stand alone, we should tremble before Thee, because of the corruption
of our heart and the iniquity of our lives ; but because Thou dost not
only know all things, but dost meet us with infinite mercy and loving-
kindness, we rejoice that there is nothing hid from the light of Thine
eye. We pray Thee to meet us now as an assembly of Christian wor-
shippers who have heard of the Cross of the Lord Jesus, and yielded our
hearts in reply to its mighty appeal ; we rejoice that we are crucified
with Christ, that nevertheless we live, yet not we, but Christ, liveth
in us ; and now our heart's desire and prayer to God is, that we
may glory in nothing but the Cross, and be constantly desirous
to exemplify its transforming power in the annihilation of all selfish-
ness and the creation of a Divine beneficence. We pray that^ accord-
ing to our present wants. Thy blessing may be commanded to
rest upon iis. Some of us are toil-worn ; we are weary with much
distracting thought, our brain is aching, our heart is sad, our eyes
are full of tears ; we desire that Thou wouldst soothe our mind, and
cheer our desponding heart, and touch the fountain of our tears,
that if we weep we may weep for joy. Thou dost pity us in the
extremities of our life ; in our great sorrows Thou givest us to feel the
gentleness of Thy grace ; in the great struggles of our life Thou givest
to us alway the victory ; yea, Thou hast made death as the angel of Thy
presence sent to call us hence ; and, if Thou hast iiiapoverished us. Thou
hast also enriched us with exceeding consolation. We humbly pray
Thee for grace to cast ourselves constantly upon Thee. May we never
take our lives into our own keej^ing ; may we never be the guardians of
our own way — self-suflicient, obstinate, proud, presumptuous. In all our
ways may we acknowledge God, that our way may be directed from on
high. Suffer us not to live unto ourselves, show us our weakness, con-
vict xxs of sin, bring back the deadly past upon our torturing memory
until we relinquish our own sufficiency, and hide ourselves in the mercy
and the might of God . Thou hast called us together from divers places
into one house ; may we find in this union a hint of the fellowship that
is heavenly and immortal. Thou wilt gather Thine own people from
the east, and from the west, from the north, and from the south, and
will set them in Thy kingdom, which is on liigh ; and we rejoice in
these intermediate fellowships, these temporary unions, as hints of the
great consolidation that shall never be broken up. Enable us therefore
to enjoy, the very spirit of Christian fellowship; may we be one by
reason of a common sympathy with the Cross of Christ ; may we feel

PRAYEU. 243

oar oneness, and rejoice tliat in Tliee we shall be one for ever ; and do
Thou enable us, seeing that we do enjoy this holy fellowship, to remem-
ber, in all our lower intercourse with one another, that we are the sons
of the Lord God Almighty, and that much is expected of us, as the
adopted and the anointed of the Lord. In all business relations may
we be simple, upright, truthful, honest ] in all misunderstandings may
we be genei'ous, magnanimous, noble, forgiving ; may we hasten to speak
the word of penitence, and to oifer the pledge of peace ; and in all our
intercourse with one another may we desire to bear one another's bur-
dens, and so fulfil the law of Christ. Enable Christian men to be
Christians to one another, confiding, charitable in construction of mis-
understood conduct, never thinking any evil, ever hoping all good ; and
may we thus show that we are no longer under the dominion of dark-
ness, but are the children of heavenly light; and when we fell into
divers temptations, when our feet well-nigh slip, when our robes are ia
danger of being spotted by the world, forsake us not, sufier us not to
be tempted above that we are able. Thou knowest our frame. Thou
rememberest that "we are dust ; when the enemy would come in like a
flood, lift up Thy Spirit as a standard against him ; when he would seize
upon us in a moment of special weakness, let Thine omnipotence inter-
pose between our frailty and his assault, and verily we shall stand
strong. Put within us Thy Holy Spirit, sanctify us altogether, woi'k in
us all the fulness of Thine own purity and Thine own love ; and may our
life be so transfigured, so elevated and ennobled, that the most un-
observing of men must feel the presence of a heavenly power in our
whole life, and in all that we do in society. The Lord's blessing come
down upon us with special fulness and adaptation to our want and
sorrow. Give us an hour's joy, di-op into our life some heavenly
element, give us to feel in this sacred hour, in this holy-day enclosure
that no lion is here, nor any ravenous beast gone up hereon. Give us
to feel Thy presence, to rejoice, and sing, and triumph in the abounding
of Thy love. Father be our Father, Son of God be our elder bi'other,
Holy Ghost of God be our sanctifier. Thou one living God be our life
and our redemption. Amen.

% Spiritual Ifisiait.

Is there not a spirit in man, and dotli not the inspiration of the Ahnighty
give him understanding 1 You know — i/ou who have meat to eat that
the world knoweth not of — what it is to be drawn into long confidential
iatercourse by an Interlocutor who listens as if he knew nothing, and yet
answers as if your very heart lay naked before him — an Interlocutor
who asks questions that sound the dark depths of your most guarded
secrecy, and startles you by replies that fall like flashing light upon the
gloomiest passages of your life. Often, indeed, this invisible companion-
ship fills you with deadly fear ; yet often, also, it soothes you like a holy
benediction. You ai*e made to feel that your intercourse, though in secret,
is distinct as thunder, and that the sigh which you would gladly keep
from men, becomes loud as the stormy wind in the ear of your spiritual
auditor. Men who are accustomed only to the vulgar dialogue of the
streets, or the sinister intercourse of the market-place, cannot understand
such companionship ; they see the movement of your lips but not the
attitude of your soul, and believing you to be bolding a pensive or
fanatical monologue, they bestow upon you a look divided between a
smile and a sneer. It is in my heai't to speak specially to yoii to-day —
to you who dream even at noon-tide, and know what it is to be alone in
,the most clamorous crowd. I will come to visions and revelations of the
Lord : a thing was secretly brought to me, and mine ear received a little
thereof; a spirit passed before my face — it stood still, but I could not
discern the form thereof; an image was before mine eyes, there was
silence, and I heard a voice saying —

" Turn to the beginning of thy days and tell me what thou seest."
" My boj'^hood," I replied, " is to me but a shadow, yet is there one
figure in it still most vivid and affecting — a poor little orphan standing
at his mother's knee, asking questions to which she could only answer
that her ' staff was broken.' "

" But," said the Voice, " were not wings given to her instead of the
staff 1 And pray thee, which is better, tlie staff" or the wings 1 Thou
art puzzled, not knowing what is meant by wings being given to thy

A SPIRITUAL VISION, 245.

widowed mother ; let me tell thee, then : when we bore away thy
fother and set him among the angels of God, there came into the
aching heart of thy mother such desires, prayers, and aspirations, as
she had never known before, and these new experiences were as wings
by which she ascended to heaven, and on which she rested until
blessed answej's satisfied the importunities of her impoverished and
wounded love."

"She was answei'ed, then, was she?" I timidly, yet hopefully, in-
quired.

"Answered richly," the Voice replied ; "her heart was suffused with
peace, her very countenance was refined and brightened, and thou
miglitst have seen with how tender a reverence her sad eyes turned
again and again to the silent but fascinating sky : that sky became to
her as a serene and comforting Presence."

" O good Spirit," said I, " speak still further of this to me — my child-
hood has waited thus long for interpretation."

" I have access to the Life-book of mankind," continued the Voice,
"the book as it is written by God himself; and if thou couldst compare
it -with the life-books which men write about one another, thou wouldst
know how foolish is the wisdom and how selfish is the love of men : the
biographer says ' died,' the Redeemer says ' born ;' the biographer saysi
'night,' the Redeemer says 'morning;' the biographer speaks of the
orphan and his loneliness, not seeing the gentle angels sent of God to
watch the fatherless child, — the biographer moans over a speck of dust in
the churchyard ; angels rejoice over a new-born brother. It is with men
even as it is with the sun ; when one nation is retiring to rest in the
darkness of night another is welcoming tlie morning, so whilst the body
is lost in the shadow of death, the sainted soul has ascended to the foun-
tain of life."

" Were we wrong, then, when we said God was unkind in desolating
our home 1"

"How desolating iti" said the Voice. "Dost thou know that God
never desolates His children 1 He only took from you the 2>hysical form
of the man so dear to your hearts : the spirit was still near you ; nor can
men who are yet in the body ever tell how precious are the influences
exerted upon them by glorified saints. Men cannot know enough of
God's movements to enable them to form a true judgment of His ways.
We have been with Him age upon age until there seems to be an eternity
behind us ; we have seen the burial of generations more than we can
number ; we have been' permitted to discover part of the plan of the outer
woi-lds that light the way to a higher universe, which again is but the
dim reflection of His resplendent footstool ; but the Father himself is

246 THE CITY TEMPLE.

guarded by jflaming and blinding light, towards wliicli the first-born of
the cherubim may not look but with veiled eyes."

" Alas !" said I, "we measure things by our little day."

" And so measuring them," the Voice continued, " you make great
things little and little things great ; I cannot explain to thee the
mingled sensations which agitate us when we see the vain attempts of
men to construct instruments which shall measui'e creation and discover
the number and force of the pulsations of the universe : your chrono-
meters tell you nothing about time but that it is gone ; your telescopes
are impotent devices to reduce the inconvenience of blindness ; and your
microscopes are the dim windows through which you see but shadows of
the under- M^orlds included in the boundless empire of God."

" Then are Ave but little children still % " said I.

" And ever will be," said the Voice ; " what you who ai-e yet upon the
earth call fathers, are such only intermediately and temporarily ; there
is only One Everlasting Father, who grants but a momentary charter of
parentage to His creatures, and in the end absorbs and xmites all power
in His own blessed dominion : we shall always be little, because He can
never be less than infinite. Thou thinkest of thy father as if he had right
of life in himself, not knowing, else forgetting, that our every pulse is a
loan from the One Eternity of the One Life. Now, look again down the
shadowy years, and tell me what thou seest 1"

■:j " I see a youth with a Book in his hand, which he is about to cast
away, none other, indeed, than the Book which claims to be inspired by
God : the youth wants a fuller book, he complains that many a question
has been left unanswered, and he stumbles in dark places like a be-
nighted traveller ; he would throw the book from him, yet an invisible
hand is restrainingly laid upon him."

" That hand was mine," said the Speaker; " thou wast in my charge.
Men can never know what I may term God's difficulty in granting
a written revelation of Himself. A perfect revelation to an imperfect
humanity would be as a dazzling light poured upon a diseased vision."

" But the youth," said I, " whose dim outline is barely discoverable
among the shadows of vanished years, appears to be distracted by the
contradictions of the Book."

" Because," the Voice instantly replied, " he did not know that contra-
dictions are but separate parts of consistency : day and night contradict
each other ; so do summer and winter ; and every man's own life is full
of contradictions, which are often most discouraging to others, and only
reconcileable in his own consciousness. Besides, the letter, as the body,
must always fall below the demands of the spirit. God's Book is little
more than a book of hints ; it is, indeed, but the j'womise of a revelation.

A SPIRITUAL VISION. 247

Dost tliou complain of an acorn because it is not an oak 1 Dopt tlioii
decline to teacli the alphabet because it is not a treatise 1 Dost thou
refuse to plant a root because it is not a flower ? I bid thee wait, and
I charge thee to hold fast by present blessings. Kuowest thou not
in the intercourse of men that even em2)hasis itself is often a revelation ?
Couldst thou hear God pronounce His own word, thou wouldst find all
contradictions reconciled, as the earthly dissonances are refined and har
monised in the heights of the great mountains."

"Then," said I, "dost thou encourage me to consider the Bible as
alphabetical 1 "

" Certainly," the Voice replied; "certainly, an alphabetical revelation
for an alphabetical life. Men who are wise in their own conceits talk of
the present life as if it were eternity. To me it is given to hear and
luiderstand much of the language of the animal world, and thou wouldst
.smile at many things I hear in that region. Two creeping insects were
holding seated conference beneath the mossy pebble that shuts in their
little world, and one of them scorned the idea that any living creature
could fly so high as a tree, and the other sternly pronounced it im2wssihle :
two little bright-breasted birds, twittering on the edge of an aquarium,
agreed that it was absurd to suppose that any creature could exist under
water, and at the same moment two golden fishes declared that it was
impossible to live out of it — so difficult is it for one world to under-
stand another, or even to believe that there is any other woi'ld but itself.
Believe me, earth is but an initial state ; the Book is an aljAabet ; the
great revelation is yet to come."

" And now," said I, " another vision of the past is before me : I see
a youth laying his hand tremblingly, yet lovingly, iipon a great cross, and
I hear him saying with stifled yet ui'gent voice, ' Lord, I believe ; help
Thou mine unbelief.' "

" The cr-isis of thy life," said the Voice, "and many angels rejoiced in
it before the presence of God. Thy father saw it, saw it as he never
could have seen it upon earth, and no words can tell thee the fulness of
his joy. To thee,^' the Voice continued, after a momentary pause arising
from my emotion, " the Cross was then a new object j to us there is no
object so old. Heaven itself is centralized in the Cross — all worlds look
towards it ; all holy beings render it obeisance ; all true service is
inspired by it."

" I thought," said I, " the Cross was specially designed for sinners ? "

" In one of its aspects it is so truly," the Voice explained ; " but the

Gross is many-sided as the univei-se : it is for the redemption of sinners,

but salvation is a fidler term than redemption, and therefore we say that

the Cross is for the saving, the keeping, the preservation of all ; sinners

248 THE CITY TEirPLE.

go to the Cross to repent ; angels go to it to meditate and adore — to
sinners it is the way to heaven ; to angels it was as the secret of God count-
less ages before sin was known — men speak of the Cross as historical ;
angels speak of it as contemporaneous. The Cross will never be taken
away, for it is the necessary bond of union between subordinate life and
the sovereignty of God."

I had a question to put which caused me to hesitate : it came to my
lips, and then swiftly retired to the heart that had urged it ; at length,
with earnest reverence, I said —

" Do not many men regard the Cross as a sign of the sanguinary
vengeance of God ?"

"Truly so," said the Yoice, "but only because they see it in one
aspect, and approach it along the line of a depraved criticism rather
than the line of a profound knowledge of sin. In the hands of a tyrant
the rod is an instrument of cruelty ; in the hands of a father it is the
medium of loving correction. It was not man that suffered on the
Cross, but God himself; on the Cross thou dost not see merely a broken
bod'i/, but also a bi-oken heart ; God did not slay a man. He himself
became a man that He might be slain ; for only by the shedding of blood
could He at once protest against the sinfulness of sin, and assure the
sinner of the possibility of recovery and sanctification."

" But," said I, and my tongue well-nigh clave to the roof of my
mouth, " But can God die ?"

"Ah," said the Voice, " thou feelest now the inconvenience of lan-
guage ; we are in a region of thought in which words betray us alike by
their feebleness and their ambiguity. By death thou meanest the cessa-
tion of existence, and herein thou art mistaken. To God death is the
agony of life : to bring the highest idea of His relation to sin within the
comprehension of men who were themselves sinful, and by so much dis-
qualified to follow the sublimity of God's thinking, it was necessary that
He should show himself as a man, and become obedient to the death of
the Cross ; and because He stooped that He might be seen, men charge
Him with vindictiveness and cruelty."

" We did not think of death in connection with God," said I.

" No," the Yoice replied, " because you know not the nature of death :
you think of death as extinction ; you apply the word death alike to the
decease of a dog and the decease of a man ; you say that the beast dies;
you say also that the man dies ; your words are thus false by reason of
indiscrimination and incompleteness. When seed dies, is it not that it
may become fruitful "? Doth uot the winged butterfly emerge from the
torpid chrysalis'? Doth not the brightest joys flash from the blackest
sorrows ? If thoii wilt say God cannot die, I will answer neither can

A SPIRITUAL VISION. 249

man die : the body dies, the shell perishes, the earthly house dissolves,
but the spirit is untouched by the spear of the destroyer. "When a man's
child deeply sins against him, physical death would be a- solace to the
wounded parent ; it is the heart-death that ploughs wrinkles on his face
and makes him old too soon. On the Cross of Jesus Christ see not 'a.
display of vengeance but a revelation of love ; deeper than the bodily
crucifixion, is the mighty struggle in which mercy rejoices over
judgment."

" Could not men have been forgiven without all this suffering on
the part of God 1 Could not the tragic scene of the Cross have been
sj^aredl"

" Thou speakest in ignorance," said the Voice, " not knowing all the
deep meaning of forgiveness. Forgiveness is the costliest of all deeds.
Men can forgive but the injuiy, they cannot forgive the sin ; no sin is
confined between man and man ; sin touches the whole universe ; it
ascends to the throne of God, it poisons all the relations of the soid ; it
mtist do so ; the felon may restore the ill-gotten property, but how can.
he restore his innocence ? The unrighteous man may cry in the bitter-
ness of his soul, but what detergent can remove the black stain from his
dishonoured life 1 No, no , believe the x-evealed word (often, indeed,
mysterious to the feeble reason of shattered manhood, yet true, sublime,
and most gracious), there is no way back to holiness but through sympathy
loitlb the redeeming death of the blessed God."

'' We know," said I, " that sinful men should suffer for their sins,
but we see not \y\\j the holy God should undergo suffering and death as
Jesus Christ did."

" The Holy God," replied the Yoice, " must do one of two things. He
must, by virtue of His holiness, either destroy sinners from off the face of
the earth, and so testify to the absolute and incorruptible righteousness of
His government, or He must descend from His infinite elevation, and move
His rebellious creatures towards penitence and holiness by setting himself
at the lowest point of being, and showing how death may be made the
condition of new creatureship. As to His not suffering because He is
holy, thou knowest not the nature of holiness. Holiness must either be
a jxidgment or a redemption ; it must burn as an unquenchable fire, or
yield itself as a reconciling sacrifice ; and as to holiness saving God from
suffering, know thou that holiness alone can truly suffer in the presence
of sin J by so much as the heart is holy, is it susceptible of anguish by
reason of the transgression of others. Knowest thou not that the
musician is agonized by false sounds, which are undetected by a hearer
who knows not the mystery of music 1 Are not artists pained by lines
and hues which mean nothing to the untrained eye 1 Is not taste often

'20tJ THE CITY TEMPLE.

shocked where vulgarity is unmoved 1 It is even so with God. By the
infiniteness of His purity does He suffer through the wrong-doing of
His children."

"Do not men think," said I, "that Jesus Christ was in some senst-
the innocent victim of Divine wi'ath ?"

"Truly so," was the instant answer; "but their thought is ignorant
and pi^ofane. They regard God as merely looking on. To them He is a
third party in a tragic process, and they wonder that He should he
appeased by the blood of His well-beloved Son. Out of their ignorance
comes their sin. God is not a third party, He is one with His Son Jesus
Clirist. Jesus Christ was God made visible. He that had seen Jesus
Christ had seen the Father. I teach thee, therefore, that God himself
was the Priest, the Priest himself was the sacrifice, and that the sacrifice
was the blessed alternative of judgment."

" And this sacrifice," said I, " is the penitent sinner's standing-ground
before God V

" Yes ; seeing that God himself was enabled to move from the point
of judgment to the point of sacrifice. He invites the sinner to meet Him
there, and as the sinner enters into sympathy with the Divine attitude,
he realizes the hatred of sin and the love of holiness, which show that he
is renewed in the veiy spirit of his mind, and that his apostasy has been
succeeded by adoption into the family of God."

" Knowest thou," said I, " of any of the ways of men which would helj)
me to understand this more perfectly 1 "

"Thou shalt find," said the Voice, "in the outworking of family life
the clearest hints, though always imperfect and often misleading, of the
spirit and law of God. When a son deeply wounds the parental heart by
some special enormity, the spirit of judgment is necessai-ily evoked, and
so long as that spirit holds the dominion of the parental heai't, reconcilia-
tion is impossible — not impossible through vindictiveness, but through'
righteousness ; but if in the father there be such depth and richness of
nature as will enable him to realize the most heart-wringing soitow on
account of violated truth or purity, the son may meet him in the same
spirit ; — meet him in the spirit of righteousness he never coiild ; in
the realm of righteousness he has no standing-ground whatever ; only in
the depths of a common sorrow can he meet his insulted and dishonoured
father."

" But," said I, " if God had remained at the point of righteousness,
might not the 2}e7ii.tent sinner have found access to Hitn 1 "

"Thoii forgettest," said the Voice, " that if God had remained at the
point of righteousness, the sinner could not have lived : righteousness
demands instant judgment, * in the day thou eatest thereof thou shalt

A SPIRITUAL VISION. i^51

surely die;' let tliy mind dwell upon this fundamental fiict ; and see
how this urgent demand of righteousness was met by the forethought of
love, inasmuch as Jesus Christ was not the transient figure of a day, He
was ' the Lamb slain from before the foundation of the world ; ' God was
not, if the language of men may be used, to be develoi^ed by circum-
stances, He is the same from everlasting to everlasting."

"Another question presses upon me," said I ; " are there few that be
saved % "

" Whosoever will, may be saved," the Voice replied ; and my interlo-
cutor passed away.

Alone, and in a silence that oppressed me, my mind suddenly saw the
whole course along which the spiritual visitant had conducted me, begin-
ning with the mysteries of Providence, and ending with the mysteries
of Grace. One thing impressed me above others — namely, the perfect
consistency of the Divine nature ; God's way amid the events which make
up our daily life is dark and often undiscoverable, so is His way of work-
ing out the salvation of men. God never comes to us, as it were, in white
light ; He rather darts an occasional ray of glory upon us from the
pavilion of thick darkness, and by these intermittent revelations our way
is to be directed. At no point are we permitted to become familiar with
His method ; He will show us a star, but we must not touch it ; He will
cause a flower to grov^ upon the grave, but will not hand us the keys of
death ; Pie awakens many a cheering note in the intertangled and melan-
choly forests, through which lies the narrow path of our life, but we may
not penetrate the sombre and perilous solitudes. This is for the chasten-
ing of our ambition, and the training of our strength. We must be still
before God. If we undei'stood Him altogether we should no longer be
men ; we love Him, and therefore grow in understanding. He conducts
us, not towards exliaustion, but towards ever-expanding capacities of mind
and heart. The oak rises, flourishes, dies ; empires are ploughed up by
their foundations ; the most splendid monuments of civilization wane and
vanish ; but the renewed mind, the sanctified heart, will grow for ever,
unimpaired by wasting ages, finding even in their satisfaction an incite-
ment to profounder worship and wider service.

The cultivation of spiritual studies should be conducted in a deeply
religious spirit, lest we pass the boundary, and find ourselves in a for-
bidden land. We may think, but we dare not press our curiosity upon
the secrecies of God. " Secret things belong unto the Lord our God,
but the things that are revealed belong unto us, and unto our children,
that we may do all the words of this law." It is not enough to d/ream of

352 THE CITY TEMPLE.

God, we must lay hold of Him, as it were, with all the might of our love,
and reveal Him to others in the light of a life whose springs are in
heaven. To-day I have spoken of visions, yet are they visions fall of
practical meaning ; if I have spoken from within a veil, I have yet
sought to speak according to the word of the Lord. Beware of the
spirituality which impairs your sympathy with all that is actual in
human life ; and beware of the materialism which binds you to the dust,
and offers you nothing but the grim destiny of the grave. To the listen-
ing ear the Spirit will ever speak some word of inspiring hope ; let us
say, with simplicity of heai't, " Speak, Lord, for Thy servant heareth."
He can still speak. His speech of love will never end. His revelation
of light will never cease. He will take us into His chamber, and hide
us there till the storm be gone ; and when it is gone He will open our
eyes to behold wondrous things out of His law.

C|c Cilg Cent lie.

% ^araWc crir ||rat)tr.

DELIVERED BY

JOSEPH PAEKEE,

In the Poultry Chapel, on Thursday Morning, February 17th, 1870,

Do you believe in prayer, as it is described and enforced in the Bible,
or have you so many difficulties about the subject as to keep your mind
in a state of anxious doubt 1 As a Christian teacher, I do not consider
it wise to ignore the misgivings which agitate other minds, or even to
turn a deaf ear to the exceptions often roughly urged by more refined
objectoi's. As " it soothes poor misery, hearkening to her tale," so it
often diminishes, and sometimes destroys, opposition to allow it full
opportunity of expending its force. An objector who did not always
pause to consider the least offensive way of putting a case, boldly said
to me, " Your Bible says that ' the prayer of the wicked is an abomina-
tion imto the Lord ; ' now, one would think that the prayer of the
wicked would, on many accounts, be a pleasure to Him."

" I undertake to show," said T, " that the prayer of the wicked is an
abomination, not only to the Lord, but also to all men of common
integrity ; and, to put the matter still more plainly, I undertake to
show that the prayer of the wicked is an abomination to yourself ^

" Show it, then ; you have an eager listenei-," my interlocutor replied.

" First of all, then," said I, " we must establish a mutual understand-
ing on one or two points. Will you tell me whether, in the course of
your expei'ience, you have ever known any insincere or selfish men % "

" I need not hesitate about that," said he ; "I have known too many
such."

" But have you ever come into close, relations with them % "

254 THE CITY TEMPLE.

"Eatlier too close," was the instant reply; "some of them have
wronged me more than once."

"That will do as a starting-point," said I. "Now, suppose that a
man who has wronged you asks, beseeches, prays, that you will give
him credit, what will be your answer]"

" Show him the door, and help him to it," my interlocutor answered.
"Certainly I should. Impertinent rogues! they would not hesitate to
come this moment, if they thought they could get over me."

" But why should you thus roughly treat the request 1 Are they not
needy men, and is it not in your power to help them 1 "

" Of course they are needy men, and needy rascals too ; but for such
plunderers, I should haA^e been in a very different state to-day. I have
no patience with them — not a bit of it : they get up in the morning to
plunder, and go to bed again to prepare for it." My interlocutor became
quite excited, and so gave me base enough for my argument.

" I see j'our position," said I, " and it is a sound one ; the prayer of
the swindler would be an abomination to you, not because it was a
prayer, but because the man who offered it was still a swindler in his
heart, and he was prepared to repeat his imposition on your good
nature : is that so 1 "

" No doubt of it ; I would not believe a word he said — far from it."

" Then," said I, "let us take a precisely contrary case ; suppose that
a man, in whose honour you have entire faith, should ask you to extend
his credit, in consequence of his being reduced to unexpected necessity ;
how would you act under such circumstances 1"

" I would grant his request at once ; yes, and with pleasure too."

" But why would you do so V said I ; " let us go into the reason."

"Because," said my interlocutor, "between you and me, honest
people are not easily found in this upside-down world, and when they
are found, they should be encouraged — that is my creed ;" and so
saying, he became radiant with self-complacency.

" 1 think your doctrine does you credit," said I ; " chai'acter ought
to go for something; but do you know," I continued, "that you are
proceeding exactly according to the law of prayer laid down in the
Bible r

" How so V he quickly demanded.

" You have admitted that the prayer of the wicked is an abomination
to you ; and in your second statement you have shown that in
responding affirmatively to the request of an honourable petitioner, you
accept the principle that ' the effectual fervent prayer of a righteous
man availeth much.' "

" I never quoted these words," said my interlociitor ; " these are
Bible words, and I have nothing to do with such language."

K PARABLE OX PRAYER. 2^0

" You did not quote them," I answered ; " but, certainly, you ha^ e
acted upon them, nevertheless."

"How so?"

" Simply because your conduct in both cases turned upon the character
of the petitioner : when the insincere man asked you a favour, you
suspected him, because his whole life was a witness against his veracity ;
but when the honourable man asked you a favour, you responded with
cordiality, because you had confidence in him."

" Even admitting all that," said my interlocutor, " we expect more
from God than from man. I may not be able to overcome ni}^ dislike of
the bad man, but we are given to understand that God is full of love,
and that makes all the difference between Him and ourselves."

" Your doctrine," I replied, " is only good so far as it goes ; but as it
does not go far enough, the reasoning on which it is based involves a
fallacy. It is true, to use your own expression, that God is full of love,
but it is also true that He is full of wisdom — not only is He full of
wisdom, He is also full of justice. Now, to regai'd the bad man's prayer
and the good man's prayer with equal favour may seem to be very
loving, yet the love would be exercised at the expense of the wisdom and
the justice. But even the supposed love itself would not in reality
be love, it would be something worse than unreflecting emotion ; it
would be an immoral and consequently a demoralising sentiment.
Then, on the other hand, look at the effect of such an administration
upon those who endeavour to live conscientiously towards God; it would
put dishonour upon all pure aspirations and all honoiirable endeavours,
and throw moral proportions and relations into utter disorder."

" But," said my interlocutor, "how is God to answer the prayer of the
wicked except through the medium of His love ?"

'* There," said I, " you unconsciously change the attitude of the argu-
ment ; you must draw a broad distinction between the wicked prayer
and the prayer of the wicked."

" Will you explain V

" Yes ; the wicked prayer is the prayer of the man who wishes to be
delivered from the mere consequences of his wickedness ; he will sin
again as soon as the hand of vengeance is taken off him, and insult the
very mercy to which he owes his deliverance ; on the other hand, the
prayer of the wicked may be a prayer inspired by a sincere penitence and
an earnest desire to know God's salvation. Is not that evident V

My interlocutor said, " Yes," with somewhat of hesitation. Noticing
the hesitation, I continued : " Let us illustrate the case in this way : heie
is a prodigal who has exhausted the patience of his father ; many a time
he has promised amendment, and as often as his father has held out the

Zo'o THE CITY TEMPLE.

hand of forgiveness it has been abused. The prodigal has beeu driven by
j>overty and hunger to use the language of submission, and as soon as his
selfish purpose has been answered, he has again fastened the 'serpent's
tooth.' of his ingratitude in the heart of his father. Through a continued
course of conduct of this kind his declarations of penitence have come to
be among the worst phases of his badness. But suppose that by some means
the prodigal svas brought to use the language of genuine repentance, and
that his father had reason to believe that every word came from a
humbled heart, the prayer would indeed still be the prayer of tlie wicked,
but it would no longer be a wicked prayer — do you accept the illustra-
tion ] Docs it afford you any hint of my meaning 1 "

"Your argument," said he, "is intended to show that God is in-
fluenced, so to speak, by the character of those who pray to Him ; and
you seem to think that it is riglit that God should have respect to a man's
character before He answers a man's prayer."

" Of course I do : and what I want to fix your mind upon specially at
this moment is, that you yourself proceed upon the same principle in
daily life."

" That is my difficulty," my interlocutor replied ; " it is all very well to
say what we ourseh^es do, but we expect to find something different in
God."

" And you do find something different in God," I answered emphati-
cally. " Kot different in the essential principle of right — for what is
uiorally right anywhere is morally right everywhere — but different in
the proportion between finite and infinite, between a shallow, changeable,
and selfish affection, and an immeasurable and eternal love."

" I confess," said my interlocutor, as if returning from absorption in
his own thoughts, " that I have thought it unworthy of the Infinite and
Evei'lasting God to pay moi'e attention to one man's prayer than another'."

"But I deny that He does," said I, "in any sense which involves a
merely arbitrary partiality ; it is not a question as between one man
a'ld another, but between one character and another ; and you yourself
operate upon precisely the same pi'inciple, and if that principle were set
aside, society would be disorganized and destroyed. Can you point to a
single instance in the Bible in which God heard the prayer of the rich
man, or turned away from the prayer of the poor 1 I put the question
thus purposely in order to shift the ground from character to mere
condition."

" I do not know that I can give you any such in.stance," my interlo-
cutor 1 exiled somewhat oft-handedly.

" But," said I, " I am perfectly sure th-.it you cinnot give any such

A PAKABLI-: ON PRAYER. 237

instance ; I challenge you to liud it. On tlie other hand, you can find
instances in which the pooi* man has been answered when the rich man
has been sent empty away. Yet what I want to point out most distinctly
and emphatically is, that the result did not in any degree whatsoever
turn either upon the wealth or the poverty of tlie respective supi)liants,
but solely upon their disposition, and I wish to know from yovi whether
this is not perfectly reasonable V

Whilst my interlocutor hesitated, I continued — ■

" You object to the princii)le that ' tlu; effectual fexweut prayer of the
righteous man availeth nxuch,' yet that principle holds good wherever
virtue is followed ; it holds good in the bank, in the warehouse, in the
family, in the school, and iu all the relations of honourable life : that
principle is, that sincerity should be influential, and insincerity should be
despicable ; in other words, an honourable man should have more im-
portance attached to his words than should be attached to the words of a
self-seeking and heartless dissembler ; and I contend that an inversion
of this principle would upset and destroy everything that makes life real
and valuable."

" Then," said my interlocutor, " am I to undei'stand you to lay down
the doctrine that God would answer the prayer of the very worst man if
that man went to Hina with a sincere desire to be heard and answered % "

"I believe so most heartily," said I, "provided that the px'ayer itself
related to a proper object."

" But what do you mean by a proper object ?" he incpiired.

" I mean the forgiveness of sins, the direction of the way of life, the
gift of wisdom, and blessings of that nature ; not petitions that are selfish,
unreasonable, or out of proportion to the relations which are divinely
established between God and man."

"Am I to understand, then," my interlocutor continued, "that there
are subjects of prayer that are forbidden 1 Must men keep within certain
lines of request when they attempt to pray 1 Why should not they ask for
anything whatsoever without liujitatioii or barrier of any kind ?"

I answered, " There are undoubtedly forbidden subjects of prayer ;
there are circumstances under which men cannot, with due regard to the
sovereignty of God, say more tlian 'not my will, but Thine, be done :' you
must admit that man cannot always see the effect of his own pi-ayers ; he
does not know all the conditions by which he is surrounded ; he does
not see the exact bearing of his own circumstances ; he does not deal with
a complete case, but with a life that is constantly in transition ; and a
consciousness of his ignorance should cause him to leave the answer
wholly to the wisdom and grace of God."

258 THE CITY TEMPLE.

" Well," said my intei'locutor, " wliatever you may make of this de-
partment of the subject, however much you may refine your position
until it becomes unintelligible to a common mind like my own, perhaps
it will be as well for me boldly at once to say I do not see what good
can be done by prayer under any circumstances. Look at this case,"
my interlocutor continued, as if he had come upon a conclusive illustra-
tion : " an atheist sows his fields and reaps a good crop ; a praying man,
as you would call him, sows his fields, and though he prays for a favour-
able harvest, and does all his work in a most intensely religious spirit,
possibly his harvest may be quite a failure — his harvest may indeed be
less than the harvest of the man who never prays at all. What advan-
tage has he 1 What comes of all his elaborate religiousness f

" Will you," said I, " allow me to answer one question by putting
another 1 As a mere matter of fact," I continued, " we know that many
an honest man has failed in biisiness, and many a swindler has made a
fortune. I suppose you allow this ?"
" Of course I do."

" What, then, I have to ask — what, then, is the advantage which virtue
lias over vice V

" What," he replied, "is the bearing of your question on the subject
in hand? I want to see how you bring the two things together, and
what argument you are going to work out of them."

" The bearing is this," said I : " broad conclusions should not be drawn
from narrow premises. If all prayerless men had good crops, and all
prayerful men had bad ones, there would be some force in your illustra-
tion ; but as your case is not only singular, but so extremely hypothetical
as to be almost impossible, you are not justified in drawing very wide
inferences from it. Still, looking at the case exactly as you put it, there
may be something said in the interests of prayerful ness. In proportion
as the man really and trvily believed in prayer and in all that prayer
implies, he would have the advantage of further believing that the failure
of his harvest had some good purpose to serve ; he might, indeed, never
be able to discover what that purpose precisely was, yet he would be
supported by an undoubting faith that God was in some way enriching
and strengthening him by the very disappointment. Such a man as we
have desci'ibed does not fix the answer of his prayers, and presump-
tuously say, ' Unless God shall give me precisely such and such a reply,
I shall not believe that there is any advantage in prayer.' He lays his
case before God, tells his Father what the desire of his heart is, and is
then resigned, if not positively joyous, though his prayer be not answered
jiccording to his own shortsighted sagacity or delusive hope."

" But," said my interlocutor, " don't you think that this is merely a
sentimental advantage 1"

A PARABLE ON PRATER. 259

" To you/' I replied, " it is iindo\ibtedly a sentimental advantage,
because your present state of mind being sceptical, you could not avail
yourself of it : the advantage does not belong to men who have taken up
an antagonistic position in relation to the doctrine of prayer ; it belongs
exclusively to the men whose whole spirit takes its tone, so to speak,
from the heavenly rather than the earthly, and to whom it is a most
substantial and invaluable advantage."

" I confess/' said my interlocutor, " I cannot follow you there. All
your arguments about my not understanding this, that, and the other,
seem to prove that your religion is shut up in a great cloud of mystery,
and when we object to your doctrines, you try to shut our mouths by
telling us we don't U7iderstand them."

I was not displeased with this burst of accusation. At all events, it
showed an intei-est in the subject, and by so much it gave me ground to
stand upon. I thanked my interlocutor for his frankness, and said,
" After all, it is true that the understanding or reverent treatment of
mysteries depends upon the state of the mind — spiritual things are
spiritually discerned — great subjects are not to be treated in an off-hand
mannex- — scholars are not to set themselves up as teachers — and you
and I, however much we may think of ourselves, ought to remember
that there is a dogmatism of unhelief as well as a dogmatism of faith ;
it is quite possible to be as exacting in rationalism as it is in Christian
theology ; and I have yet to be persuaded that the men of no creed are
one whit more liberal than the men whose religious belief is well defined."
After thus giving him lecture for lecture, I asked him to proceed with
the subject immediately in hand.

" Why," said he, "you praying men are always challenging God to
work a series of miracles, or in some way to upset the laws of nature."

" That," said T, " is a bold statement ; will you particularise a little?"

" Look, for example/' he continued, " at a case of sickness : here is a
little child dying, and the mother, a genuine Christian, is praying night
and day for its recovery ; yet she might as well spare her prayers, for the
child dies. Then, again, look at a case of plague : you Christian people
go to church and pray for its cessation, and perhaps in the very act of
prayer some of you may be cut down ; or look at a poor man who is
well known to be religious, who is in distress. For weeks or months he
has been praying that God would open his way to an honest livelihood,
but nothing comes of it all ; his children are starving, and his life is
daily more and more of a burden to him. Now," said my interlocutor,
in a bold, clear tone, " of what use has prayer been in such cases as
these ]"
" It does not seem to have been of much use," said I ; '•' yet I am not

260

THE CITY TKIIPLE.

unwilling to go over tlie ground you liave traversed, and to sliow you
how Christian faith enabled me to look at the subject. Let us come to
your two main cases. A godly woman prays that her sick child
may recover, yet the sick child dies ; therefore, say you, what is the good
of prayer 1 ISTow, pardon me for saying that your notion of prayer seems
to involve the very detltronement of God ; according to your theory, G od
should not have a will of His own— the moment He is asked by any of
His creatures to do anything, He should do it ; now this may be a very
pleasing theory of prayei-, but it is a most humiliating theory of Divine
government. If your theory of prayer were true, one would not ask,
'What is the use oii^ayer V but 'What is the use of God V You say
that the mother prays for the dying infant, but you forget that hoth the
infant and the mother are themselves tUe, children of God; and what is our
qualification for saying that God should do one thing and leave another
undone % Seeing that both the mother and the child are God's, who are
we that we should tell God which of Plis children He should take first 1
But does the poor mother get nothing for her prayer % Does her supplica-
tion end in denial, or in silence which amounts to mockery % Has God
no way of enriching the hearts which he bereaves % Is it nothing to have
had wrought in the spirit the conviction that it is well with the child %
Is it nothing to be brought to the state of mind which regards human life
as a divinely arranged plan, in which the sorrows and the joys are ad-
justed and intermingled with infinite wisdom % You are to obseiwe,
therefore, that answers to prayer are given in different ways : prayer
may be answered, whilst the special petition may not be granted ; true
prayer does not presumptuously say, ' I must have mij way ;' it says
rather, ' Let God be God, the child was His before it was mine— not my
will, but God's, be done !' And this is not stoical or sullen I'esignation,
It is filial accpnescence ; it is the spirit which says that the Creator must
know more than the creatvire. Then again, you say, Christian men go
to church to pray for the cessation of a plague, yet while they are in the
very act of praying they may be struck by the pestilence ; therefore, you
inquire, What is the good of prayer 1 In reply to this bold representa-
tion of a case that is barely possible, I say we must know something more
about the plague before we can give an opinion about the difliculty ; if
men pray instead of attending to the common laws of nature, the pi'ayera
of the careless are an abomination unto the Lord ; if men attend to the
common laws of nature and pray also, still they may be victimised by
the slothfulness and impurity of their neighbours, and it is certainly no
argument against the Divine government that one law is not maintained
at the expense of another. Not only so ; if your argument proves any-
thing, it proves too much ; you are aware that tJie person who has done

A PARABLE OX PRAYEK. 261

everytliiiig in his power to obey the Jaws of health may fall a victim to
an epidemic, and on your principle T should he entitled to ask, ' What is
the use of cleanliness or sobriety '? ' The fields of an industrious man may
be blighted, and on your jirinciple we might ask, ' What is the good of
industry ?' And if the field of a vicious farmer should happen to be fruit-
ful, your theory would permit the question, 'What harm is there in
vice?'"

" But apart from these considex-ations," I continued, "your notion of
prayer is little shoi't of an absurdity. You complain of the in efficacy
of prayer because every desire is not instantly satisfied ; but, as I have
just reminded you, if such were the case, the difficulty which is appa-
rently relieved at one end is infinitely increased at the other, because
God would be the mere convenience of His creatures, and His government
would be reduced to a fiction. Even an earthly parent does not gi-ant
all the requests of his children ; is it of no use, therefore, for a son to
consult his father? A jjhysician does not always accede to the wishes of
a patient ; is it, therefore, of no service to have medical advice ? A
teacher often denies the request of the scholar ; is it unwise, therefore,
to appeal to the teacher, and to be guided by his opinion ? "

"NMiilst I paused for a moment at this point, my interlocvitor said —

" The Bible particularly says, ' Call upon me in the day of trouble,
and I will answer thee.' This is plain enough," he continued. "Now,
I have known many men in trouble, and they have prayed time after
time withovit getting any answer."

" I think," said I, " you go too far in making that sweeping assertion.
You are not in a position to say what answer they have received ; I
allow that they may not have received the answer which they ex-
pected, but I have more faith in the answer than in the prayer, because
I have more faith in God than in man. There is one answer which God
makes to all prayer that is offered in a right spirit : He creates a state of
mind lohich enables the siqiplia^it to a,ccept the wants of daily life hope-
fully and even thanhfally. I think I am right in claiming this as the
hifjhest use of prayer. It gives man to realize his trvie relation to God, it
humbles his ambition, it encourages his dependence, it enables him to
take a comprehensive and unselfish view of life. You say men have not
been answered in the day of trouble ; I contend that, if the conditions
of true prayer have been forthcoming, they have been answered, our
only difference being as to a definition of the term ' answer,' which we
can mutually accept. You measure Divine answers by human replies ;
you bind God to a Yes or No ; you confine Him within the limits of the
request, not thinking that by so much as He is God, He is able to do
exceeding abundantly above all that the suppliant can ask or think."

262 THE CITY TEMPLE.

" Well," said my practical interlocutor, "an answer is an answer after
all. If a Christian asks God for daily bread, I don't call it an answer
unless he gets the veiy thing he has asked for. I think you will admit
that to be common sense."

" I really cannot admit it to be common sense," said I, " until I know
more about the case than you have told me, or perhaps can tell me. A
man came to me to beg ; I did not give him money, but I told him where
to get work ; he got it, and now he honourably supports himself by it.
Did I, or did I not, answer the man's prayer 1 I mention this to show
that it is possible, whilst apparently rejecting a man's request, to do
moi'e for him than he had ventured to expect. I acknowledge frankly
that to the receivers and observers it would appear to confirm the doc-
trine of the efficacy of prayer, if all petitions were answered literally and
instantly ; but we forget all that is involved in such an arrangement.
God is excluded from the argument by being practically divested of will,
knowledge, grace, and in fact all the qualities and attributes which are
essential to Godhead, and the theory is a humiliating illustration of the
oue-sidedness of all reasoning that ignores the Supernatural and Invisible.
I am not sure that the prayers of the best men do not quite as much
reveal their ignorance as their wisdom. We do not know the whole
of any case ; we see but fragments of our own circumstances ; we do not
know what is best for ourselves. The trouble we would escape may be
a minister of good to xis ; bodily affliction may work out the i-efinement
of the spirit ; the disappointment which grieves us to-day may occasion
us high enjoyment to-morrow. Yesterday a son importuned his father
to allow him to travel by a certain train, but the father resolutely said,
No. The son was angry, sullen, resentful ; he chafed under his father's
supremacy, and longed to be his own master. This morning news was
received that a terrible accident befell the train, by which every pas-
senger was killed or injured, and to-day the disappointed son thanks and
blesses the father for a decision which saved his life. It is thus that our
Heavenly Father governs us. He disappoints us that He may bless us ;
He puts aside our little prayer that He may enrich us with unexpected
answers ; He di-ives away the momentary cloud by light which brings
morning into the heart."

" Well," said my pertinacious interlocutor, " there seems to me to
be a good deal of mystery about the whole thing ; I can make nothing
of it."

So much for our interview. I do not attempt to clear the subject of
prayer of all mystery, nor, indeed, can all mystery be cleared from any
religious subject. Two or three most important things are perfectly

PRAYER. 263

certain to )ny own raind, and upon them I rest in entire confidence.
First of all, God is infinitely wise, gracious, and powerful; secondly, man
is shortsighted, changeable, and weak; thirdly, events often take unex-
pected turns, and yield meanings quite unlocked for. When I go to
God iu prayer it is to submit, not to dictate ; to lay before Him my cir-
cumstances, to express my desires, and to put myself wholly into His
hands, concluding every prayer with ' not my will, but Thine, be done.'
Having confidence in God, I know that His answer, though opposed t)
my desires, must be best. I cannot prove it by mere argument ; I must
wait. What are my days but a span '? what is my life to God's eternity 1
In the end I shall see that God's mercy has been quite as much shown
iu denying some prayers as in answering others, and that where I mur-
mui'ed at His delay I should have rejoiced in His forbearance. I would
stand before God as a loving child, frankly telling Him all that is in my
heart, and then saying, " Father ! I can see but a little way into things ;
I am always making mistakes of one kind or another ; do as Thou
pleasest, for Thou dost all things well."

Almighty God, we bless Thee for the privilege of communion with
Thyself through Jesus Christ our Lord. We delight to know that we
may pour out our hearts before Thee in thanksgiving, su2:)plication, and
adoring trust, being assured that Thou wilt not deny the requests which
are offered in faith, and which are in harmony with Thy purposes of
infinite wisdom and love. We rejoice to have wrought in us the convic-
tion that Thou art the hearer and answerer of prayer. Thou hast
encouraged us boldly to approach Thy Throne and fully to declare all
that is ill our hearts ; we come now so to do, and pray that we may enter
into the realization of those heavenly joys which Thou dost give to all
who diligently wait upon Thee. Thou knowest the doubts which often
mingle with our aspirations ; there is not a temptation which assails the
soul with which Thou art not acquainted. We rejoice that Jesus
Christ, our High Priest, is not only acqiiainted with our infirmities, but
that He bears them for us, and that our weakness becomes strength
through the might of His intercession. We now thank Thee for the
innumerable instances in which Thou hast been pleased to answer our
prayers. Thou hast given us light when we have sat in darkness; Thou hast

264: THE CITY TEMPLE.

spoken the word of comfort when our souls have been filled with sadness ;
Thou hast enlarged our way and established our paths when our enemies
have looked on with hope that we might stumble and fall. We rejoice
to believe that where Thou hast denied, Thou hast been more merciful in
the denial than Thou wouldst have been in compliance with our desires ;
truly, we know not how to pray except Thou dost inspii-e our hearts,
and we rejoice to know that where Thou dost inspire the prayer, Thou
wilt assuredly do exceeding abundantly above all we ask or think in
response to our cry. Help us most importunately to desire the best
gifts : in our prayers may we be delivered from all the temptations which
come of our selfishness : may we surrender our will to Thine, and how
much soever our heart may be disappointed by Thine answers or Thy
silence, may we rest in the assured conviction that whether Thou dost
speak to us or hold Thy peace, our welfare is ever dear to Thee. Save us
from all that would interfere with loving fellowship with Thyself So
far do Thou give us dominion over time and sense as to enable us to
enter into intelligent and profitable communion with Thy Spirit, and
thus may we be trained increasingly to look at things unseen and
eternal, and to find our satisfaction in blessings that are not earthly
but heavenly. Are there any in Thy presence who have never
prayed 1 In this holy hour may they be enabled to lift up their
hearts in fervent desire ; teach the lips of the dumb to sj)eak ; and
may those who have hitherto been silent be found making a joyful
noise unto the Rock of their salvation. Give thine own people to
feel the infinite preciousness of prayer ; enable them to pray without
ceasing ; in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving
may they make known their requests unto God, and may Thy unspeak-
able peace be the answer to their entreaties. May prayer become to us
a joy ; may it often express itself in praise ; and may our desires
deepen into vital union with Thyself, so that our own will may be lost
in Thy blessed purposes.

We pray Thee now to pardon our sin ; how great it is Thou only
knowest, but it is our delight to know that the blood of Jesus Christ,
Thy Son, cleanseth for all sin, and that there is not a stain upon our
soul which cannot be removed by His all-cleansing sacrifice. Having
forgiven us, do Thou also sanctify us, so that we may live and move,
and have our highest being in God. All this we ask in the name of
our blessed and only Savioui', to whom be praise, perfect and immortal.
Amen.

C|c Citg Cnitiih.

% IBixx-Mt on Draner.

JOSEPH PAEIvEE,

In the Poultry Chapel, on Thursday Morning, February 24th, 1870.

The principle of prayer seems to run througli all social life. The little
child prays in its own graphic way before it can put its wishes into
words. Poor men put tlieir requests before men that are rich. The
scholar jn-ays the help of the teacher. The sufferer prays the physician
to aid him. The ti-aveller who has missed his way prays the passer-by
to put him in the right road. The citizen prays the Senate, and the
Senate prays the Sovereign. From these circumstances, it is clear that
what may be called the jifincij^le of prayer operates throughout the whole
plan of social intercourse — men need help of one another ; the rich man
needs the poor", as well as the poor the rich. In fact, society is a system
of dependencies, and social prayer is a condition of progress. Now, let it
be supposed — I ask for nothing further than an assumption — that man
should by any means become conscious of wants that cannot be satisfied
by any of the sources of mutual help ; let him come to a point at which
friendship is utterly powerless — a point where the teacher's wisdom is
exhausted, and the physician's skill is unavailing, and where his most
constant and loving adherents are compelled to own that they cannot do
anything more lor him ; — let it be further assumed that the man who is
thus driven to extremity has faith in God, in the Almighty, All-wise,
Ever-loving Father, and if these two conditions be assumed, they furnish
a conclusive I'eason for the exercise of prayer. In fact, the man who is
conscious of wants which transcend all ordinary sources of satisfaction,
and who has faith in God, viust pray : with him there is no question of
hesitation or probability, it is simply a gracious necessiti/. Even in the
absence of a command to pray, the heart would have been a law unto
itself; the soul would have addressed the God in Avhom it confitled. I
put the doctrine of prayer on no mei'ely arbitrary basis ; prayer is natui'al,
is instinctive, is, in short, necessary as an expression of spiritual life.
My friend, to whom I put this view of the case, said :
" With me it is not so much a question whether prayer is natural, as

23

266 THE CITY TEMPLE.

whether it is effectual. Are the pravers of men answei'ed, or are
they not 1 "

" Not an improper question," said I, " and not difficult to answer,
because there ought to be evidence enough in the religious history of
mankind to settle the inquiry instantly and satisfactorily. Now, as a
mere matter of fact, there is a religioiis book, whatever may be its value,
which distinctly says, in nearly every variety of expression, that prayers
have been most fully answered. You are bound as a candid inquirer to
observe that this svxbject is not left as a mere matter of inference — it is
not darkly hinted at — it is repeated and insisted upon throughout the
whole Bible ; you find it in Moses, in the Psalms, in the Prophets, and
in all the Christian writings ; prayers are recorded, answers to ])rayers
are specified, encoui'agements to pray are urged in the most fervent
terms, and reproaches on account of the omission of prayer are not spared :
now, the responsibility of dealing with this evidence is forced upon me ;
I have to say whether it is true ov false ; it is too copious and emphatic
to be got rid of in an easy maimer. If I am determined not to believe in
prayer, of course I can treat Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, David, Isaiah,
Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, Peter, John, Paul, and a great multitude of
other witnesses either as dupes or knaves ; but as I am a candid inquirer,
earnestly desirous to know the truth and to obei/ it, I must deal with
their evidence in a judicial manner. Now, let me ask you, as if all those
witnesses were actually .standing before you and awaiting your answer,
holt) do you projwse to treat their evidence V

"Well, I confess," said he, "I should like to have some evidence
nearer my own time to deal with ; I feel a difficulty in grajspling with
testimony so ancient and so scattered."

I smiled at the novelty of the request, and said, " Don't imagine that
time can im])air facts : yoiir oimi cA'idence will one day be very old,
and perhaps it will be called in question because it is not five centuries
nearer the day of some prejudiced controversialist. If a statement is
true, it is not true in its accidental relation to time, but essentially and
unchangeabljr true ; if, therefore, I come to recent evidence, you must
not imagine that I forego the consistent and overpowering testimony of
ancient saints. Now," I continued, gravely and fervently, " we shall
come very near your own day, and in doing so I put 'myself before you
as a witness that God is the hearer and answerer of prayer ; mark me, I
assume the responsibility of saying that my own prayers have been heai'd
and answered."

" All of them 1" my interlocutor inquired.

" That is not the point," said I ; " you cannot judge such questions as
we are discussing by numbers ; our decision does not turn upon the word
cdl or some ; I take a very clear position in the matter, namely, that if
one prayer has been answered, your theory is ujDset. Understand me ;
if one prayer, at any time and xmder any circumstances, has been
answered, the argument is conclusively settled in favour of the doctrine
of prayer. Clearly so, because all the conditions required by the argu-
ment are fully satisfied, viz., man in need, man addressing God, man
I'eceiving God's replies ; so you assume a heavy responsibility in reject-
ing the doctrine of prayer, nothing short of the responsibility of denying

A PARABLE ON PRAYER. 267

that any pmyer has ever been answered, under any chcurastancos what-
soever , since the world began,"

My friend was astounded at having all this responsibility charged upon
him ; yet, on reflection, he owned that he saw no logical escape from the
extremity of his position, I urged his further attention to this view of
the case.

" "Remember," said I, " you ai'e not at liberty to conclude the argu-
ment in your favour, even if you can prove that ninety-nine prayers out
of every hundred are not answered ; you are bound to account for the
single exception, and I further think that you are shut up to some such
course of reasoning as this : Here is one answer to prayer, this one
answer makes it clear that God does under certain circumstances reply
to human requests ; it is probable, therefore, that there has been some-
thing amiss in the circumstances of those who did not receive answers to
their prayers. You must either do that, or charge God himself with
caprice and partiality, in which case He would no longer be God.
Now," said I, " will you allow me to suggest that you do not appear
to know what prayer is, but you may correct me, if you can, by
defining it ?"

" Why," said he, " prayer is simply telling God what you need, and ^
asking Him for it."

" Nothing more?" said I.

" Nothing ]nore that I know of," he replied.

" If a stranger asked you for a sovereign, would you give it to him '?"

" Probably not."

" But why not ?" I inquired ; " you must have some I'easou."

" Because I should not know the man, nor should I know what he
wanted with the money."

" Very well," said I, "that is a ])roper reason ; but change the case : if
your child, two years old, wanted a sovereign, would you give it himi "

" Certainly not, because he would not know what to do with it."

"Then,'' said I, "go further; if your son, who is twenty years of
age, wanted a sovereign, would you gi ve it him '? "

" I might or I might not," said my friend ; " I should hear his reasons
for asking for the sovertdgn, and, if I approved them, very likely he
should have the money."

"At all events," said I, " you would claim the i-ight of decision % "

" Undoubtedly."

" And under any circumstances," I continued, " you would make a
difference between a stranger and your own son]"

" Naturally so."

" Then," said I, " why do you object to God acting precisely on the
same principle 1 "

"Because," said my friend, triumphantly, "there cannot be any
strangers in the sight of God."

" Think," said 1, " think for one moment, before you content yourself
with that answer. You have already said that if all men were sons,
their reasons should be heard, and only, if those reasons were good,
should the requests be granted ; but," said I, " do you really think tliere
cannot be any strangers in God's sight ] "

268

THE CITY TEMPLE.

" Why, how is it possible '] " my friend inquired ; " He made all men,
and of course He knows all men."

" Only in a very limited sense," said I, "are you right; but for all
the purposes of tliLs discussion, you are wrong. Are you not awai-e that
a son may have made himself a stranger to his own father ] Cannot the
deepest and tenderest relations he disorganized, and even destroyed 1 It
may be that fathers may be driven to disown their children, and to hide
themselves from their faces. Now, the same book that teaches the
doctrine of prayer teaches also a doctrine of human nature, which
plainly shows that men have fallen from sonshij), they are strangers in
heart, they have corrupted themselves, and gone astray ; God says,
^ I have nourished and brought up children, and they have rebelled
against me ;' and this fact must have its bearings on the doctrine of
prayer."

W'e paused for a moment. We were mo%ing rapidly into some of the
most difficult questions in religious thinking, and it was important that
we should keep the immediate subject closely in hand, lest it should
become intermingled with matter which might impair its unity.

"Come now," said I, "let us go back to your dehnition of prayer:
you say that prayer is telling God what you want, and asldiig him to
give it ; — now, in order to bring the subject more fully out, I deni/ that
this is a proper definition of prayer."

"Then," said my candid friend, "I don't know what prayer is. What
fault have you to find with my definition of it 1 "

" Your definition," said I, " is incomplete : first of all, it does not go
far enough; and, secondly, it does not include or even recognise the con-
ditions on which alone men can either truly prav or be successfully
heard."

I gave my friend an opportunity to assume the defensive, if he
pleased ; instead, however, of stubbornly insisting on his own definition,
lie took the only course that was open to a candid and earnest inquirer".

" Tell me," said he " your definition of prayer-, and I shall see whether
I can accept it."

Thus invited, I replied : " Let us, in the first place, clear the
ground, by pointing out what prayer is not. Prayer is not the last
resort of selfish fear ; prayer is not a mere convenience, of which men
may avail themselves under painful pressure ; prayer is not an experi-
ment by which the creature may play upon the good nature of the
Creator ; prayer is not an occasional impulse, or an intermittent exalta-
tion of the mind. Thus much for the negative side. What, then, is
prayer affirmatively'? I should describe it a habit of the soul, or the
right mood of the mind towards God. Man cannot always be using the
language of prayer, or assuming the attitude of formal devotion : prayer
is an expression of trust, of reverence, of love ; prayer includes more than
supplication, it includes coiniminion ; prayer is not an assertion of our
own will, it is an efi'oi-t to know God s will, and a disposition to do it ;
true it may mean asking, but always asking with a confession of igno-
rance and weakness on the part of the petitioner."

" Then," said my friend, " how do you account for so many prayers
being imanswei-ed 1 "

A PARABLE ON PRAYER. 269

" First of all," said I, " let us be careful liow we use the woi'd ' un-
answered ' in reference to any prayer. We do not know always what
the true answer is. God has many ways of attending to the desires of
those who love Him. In the next place, it is clear that in the case of
an unanswei'ed prayer the difficulty mxist be either in the intent of the
prayer or in the disposition of God. This narrows the ground. Now, with
this alternative before me, I do not hesitate to say that I would rather
suppose ignorance or other deficiency on the part of man, than accept the
doctrine that God is indifferent to the circumstances of such as truly
commit their way to Him."

Having given this answer, I put my friend once more into a leading
jiosition.

"Tell me," said I, "what you would propose as a substitute for prayer 1"
" I should just let things take their natural course," said my friend.
" But what is the natural coui'se of things 1" said I.
" Why, letting events jtass without asking God to interpose in any way."
" Indeed ! " said I, without attempting to soften my tone of indignant
irony. " Would you like yoixr child to let events pass without asking
your assistance or advice ? "

" Of course not ; but then he is a child ; he does not know the ways
of the world, and he needs all the help that his father can give him,"

" On that very ground," said I, " we need the assistance of God.
What is the oldest and greatest of us but a little child in God's sight ]
Are we not every day making mistakes, and falling into snares % Are
we not exposed to evil suggestions, and deceived by our own counsel %
You say, ' Leave things to their natui-al course, let things alone, never say
a word to God about them.' You turn away from heaven the look of
expectation, and silence the voice of praise. Jesus Christ says to men,
You have a Father in heaven, He cares for you, He numbers the very
hairs of your head ; pray to your Father in secret, and He will rev>^ard
you openly."

" A magnificent theoiy," said my friend ; " I wish I could accept it as
true."

" For my part," said I, " it has been accepted as true, and every day
brings its own peculiar joy in the doctrine. Now, hear me for a little
while. Jesus Christ said, ' Ask and ye shall receive;' the Apostle James
says, ' Ye ask and receive not, because ye ask amiss,' plainly showing
that something more than mere asking was recpiired. Look at the case
of a child asking a favour of a parent. There are three circumstances
under which a child may be said to ask amiss — First, if he asked in
a spirit which asserted an independent right; second, if he asked merely
for the sake of increasing his means of self-indulgence ; third, if he asked
simply for the purpose of making an expeiiment on his father's good
nature. Under any of these circumstances, we could understand the
reason of i-ejection ; how much more so when they find a place in the
petitions Avhich are addressed to heaven 1 It appears to me that two
things are often overlooked in considering the obligation and advantages
of prayer : —

" 1 . That ill the sight of God, all men have lost their inoral standing.
When a man prays, his attitude should indicfi te guilt and shame ; he

i'70 THE CITY TEMPLE.

should put his hand upon his mouth and put his mouth in the dust ; yet
men talk as if, morally, they were God's equals, and complain if their
depraved and feeble words do not engage all the powers of Heaven on
their behalf.

" 2. That having lost their moral standing, vien have also lost their
intellectual vigour. We really don't know every side of our own
circumstances. Our best-considered actions are often but so' many
blunders. Supposed blessings may be concealed temptations — supposed
calamities may be blessings in disguise. An answer which may please
us to-day, may to-morrow become an embarrassment and a mortification.
If all our Y)rayers were answered, we should often have to pray that our
prayers might be reversed, and that our next prayer might be wiser than
our last.

" Now, with these two things in view, it is clear to my own mind that
God must not be judged by what we are pleased to call answers to our
prayers. We are bound to protect the name of God from profanity, and
this obligation binds us to tlie alternative, that the prayers which are
ineffectual are best answered by not being answered at all."

" I confess," said my friend, " that in taking the view of God which
you have now given, you have put yourself into a very strong position ;
in fact, I don't see how to dislodge you."

'' Everything," said I, " in an argument of this kind depends upon the
view which is taken of the Divine government, and you ai'e bound, I
submit, to start the inquiry from the Divine rather than from the human
side : What is God 1 What is His position in the universe 1 What is
the moral purpose of His government 1 Having just notions of these
subjects, we may descend to other inquii'ies : What is man 1 What is
the terra of his being 1 What is his moral condition 1 What is the
\'alue of his judgment 1 What are the peculiarities of his circumstances ?
Then will come a third sei-ies of questions : Is man commanded to pray 1
Is he encouraged to do so % Is it in harmony with his best instincts to
seek other and higher help than his own 1 The Christian teacher has a
clear answer to all these inquiries, and therefore he is at rest on the sub-
ject of prayer. You are by no means to understand that the subject is
devoid of mystery, but you are to understand that however much ni3's-
tery there may be connected with the docti'ine of prayer, there is nothing
but mystery without it. I put this view of the case fearlessly to your
own reason. Given, the existence of God, Almighty, all-wise, all-gracious ;
given also, creatures who are capable of receiving a revelation from Him ;
creatui'es who can think, legislate, and set up a society on a moral basis ;
creatures who, by daily mistakes, prove themselves to be ignorant, and
by daily failings prove themselves to be weak ; — given these conditions,
and the naturalness and even necessity of prayer can admit of no debate.
There will always be difficulties about the method and scope of Divine
answers, because men cannot see beyond a very limited range, and they
are generally impatient with everything that seems to thwart their own
ideas of what is best for them. It is not easy to get quite down to the
point of self-crucifixion— not easy, when some favoui-ed desire is urging
itself upon the heart to risk an appeal to God which may elicit a com-
mand to destroy the suggestion which promises to secure great enjoyment.

A PARABLE OX PRAYER. 271

Yet this point must be readied before the advantages of prayer can be
fully Idealized ; but when it is reached, prayer becomes the sweetest and
the most practical exercise of the highest faculties of the spiritual
nature."

To the pressure of argument may I attempt to add the stimulus of
exhortation 1 It is with prayer as it is occasionally with intellectual work.
Often, writers shrink ffom their uninviting tasks, consciously unable to
perform them ; yet, as they may be more or less under the strain of
necessity, they overcome their reluctance to attempt a beginning, and,
after severe self-discipline, the subject yields itself into their hands,
rewarding them with a success heightened by the remembrance of the
difficulty. So Avith our most sacred religious exercises. We do not
always enjoy an equal sense of God's nearness and preciousness ; we do
not always feel equally inclined to seek fellowship with God ; yet, if we
persist in urging our way to the throne of grace, we shall find that by
overcoming difliculties we have increased our capacity to receive Divine
blessing, and prepared ourselves for other attempts t^ exclude us from the
Divine presence. If we pray in this spirit ot hallowed determination,
we shall pray imjjortunately . If God be silent, we shall not restrain
prayer — if He answer not immediately, we shall yet continue until the
cloud gives promise of rain. Importunity, as between a child and a
parent, is often properly regarded as a sign of disobedience, and we are
not to forget that even as between man and God the same inference is
just. Everything depends upon tlie subject which engages our impor-
tunity. When we are importunate in insisting on having our own way
in the afiairs of this life, we put ourselves in a false position before God —
our importunity may be our sin ; but when we seek spiritual refinement
and sanctification, when we desire to know God's will that we may do it,
we may tariy with holy determination before the throne, in the exercise
of self-renewing patience, until we receive abundantly the riches of Divine
grace. Do you complain that you cannot i)ray 1 I encourage you to
try. Say from the heart, " God be merciful to me a sinner," and you
have prayed ; naj'' more, lift up your heart in unuttered desire, and the
offering will be accepted as pi-ayer ; tell God you would pray if you could,
and He will surely teach the dumb to praise Him. Do you wish to know
the way of access to the Father 1 It is through His Son Jesus Christ.
There is no other way. " No man cometh unto the Father but by Me."
'■'■ Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, I will do it."
Jesus Christ sends us to the Father, and bids us use His name. We are
sinners, yet we are heard through the Saviour — we are rebels, yet there
is a living Mediator — we are stained with manifold and aggravated sin,
yet there is a fountain opened for sin and for xmcleanness. Whilst we are
praying for ourselves, Jesus Chi-ist is praying for us : He is the inter-
cessor ; He represents us before God. " Men ought always to pray and
not to faint." " In everything by prayer and supplication make known
your requests to God," and in the blessed peace which will suffuse your
heart and give it a sense of dominion over all earthly circumstances,
you will have the best assurance that God is the hearer and answerer of
prayer.

!27^ THE CITY TEMPLE.

0Stsrripi

PuOPESSOR Tyndall is a preacher of science ; is he therefore a scientific
preacher ] In conchiding a lecture upon Matter and Force, delivered iu
connection with a meeting of the British Association, the learned Pro-
fessor fell into a tone of exhortation, and addressed his audience in the
following terms : —

"The pheuomena of matter and forc3 lio within our iatellei^tual range ; and so
far as they reach, we will at all hazards pash our inquiries. But beliind, and
above, and around, all the real mystery of the univei'se remains nnsolved. Fathom
this mystery as you will. With that I have nothing to do ; but be careful tliat
your couception of tlie Builder of this universe is not an unworthy conception.
Invest tliat conception with yoiu" grandest and liighest and holiest tliought, but be
careful of pretending to know moi'e about it tlian is given to man to know. Be
careful, above all things, of professing to see in tlie phenomena of the material
world the evidence of the Divine pleasure or displeasure. Doubt those equally
who pretend to see in cholera, cattle plague, and bad harvests evidences of Divine
anger."

We confess that there are some points in this exhortation which con-
siderably peqjlex us, and to which, with the utmost respect for science
and its competent teachers, we venture to take decided exception. Wt»
are sincerely thankful to any man wlio will help to secure for religious
thought the exactest nicety of expression, because inaccuracy, whether
arising from defective intelligence or ill-regulated sentiment, is always a
weakness. We have no doubt that men of correct discipline of mind
have been offended by many assertions which have borne the appeai'ance
of fi^naticism, and that tlie recoil of taste has occasioned us little spiritual
loss. At the same time it is possible to push this concession too far, and
so to inflict positive injury upon religious truth. If we wanted an illus-
tration of the retributive bearing of this 0[)inion, we might lind it in
Professor Tyndall's own words, for if, as we shall try to prove, Professor
Tyndall has founded his exhortation upon an untenable basis, it would
not be an unfair application of his own principle to conclude that the
man who can speak so loosely about religion cannot be a veiy reliable
authority in science.

We are told that " the phenomena of matter and force lie within our
intellectual range." What then ? Does it follow that our intellectual
range embraces no other phenomena ? There is a science of mind as well
as a science of matter, but we are not dogmatic enough to determine
whether they sustain any inter-relation. It is clear, however, from every
side of the argument that the mind is a greater mystejy than matter,

POSTSCRIPT. 273

unci if the mind, wihliout wliich scientific investigation is impossible,
^hoiild be defective, tiiere is great danger that the so-called results of
science may be incomplete and fallacious. Given a judgment that is
perfectly balanced, whose fallibility arises not from quality but from
limitation, and given a world whose original relations have not been
violently disturbed, ajid we may reasonably look for a set of results
nccurate as far as they go ; on the other hand, given a mind which has
been enfeebled by a great apostasy, a mind at least limited, often preju-
tliced, and always exposed to secondary infliiences, and given a world
which bears traces of the most terrific moral eruj^tion, amounting in
some places practically to transformation, and we shall very likely have
a set of one-sided and even inconsistent results. Admitting, then, that
the phenomena of matter and force do lie within our intellectual range,
we have to inquire the consequence of that " intellectual range" being
itself prejudiced or distorted. In Professor Tyndall's method of putting
the argument everything is assumed in favour of the mind, but it ought
not to be forgotten that the mind itself has been convicted of many mis-
takes and many violations of truth, and therefore has a work of self-
vindication to do before it can be adudtted as an unquestionable witness.
Of what advantage is it to the l>lind man that physical objects be within
the range of vision 1 And if all men are conscious that their intellectual
ability is often perverted and always limited, this circumstance ought
at least to qualify their assertions. The most philosophical of the
philoso])hers will be the first to admit that his intellectual range is,
to say the least of it, incomplete, and that by so much his conclusions
may possibly be defective. We are not attempting to force any unne-
cessary humiliation on the philosopher in asking him to admit this
much ; we merely put into words what he would instantly accept as a
fact. This admission concedes the point at which the argument of
supernatviralism takes its inception ; granting the infallibility of the
intellect, the i)ossible unsoundness of its conclusions is also granted, and
when tiie possible unsoundness of its conclusions is granted it is not
unnatural that the intellect should ask. Is there any standard of
infallibility 1

Professor Tyndall says, that "behind, and above, and around, all the
real mystery of the universe remains unsolved." Then, unless the universe
be a sei-ies of unrelated fragments, if the real mystery be unsolved, it
follows that wliat we do suppose ourselves to know might,- by further
knowledge of the universe, be modified ; its proportion might be changed ;
Avhat now appears to be great and final might be proved to be trivial and
progressive. So long as " the real mystery of the universe remains
unsolved," science can have but a very limited sphere, and even that
limited sphere may be reduced to insignificance, by fuller disclosures of
<.Tod's power and purpose. A map of a city may be so enlarged as to
exceed the map of a continent, but on the whole globe that city may be
indicated only by its name; in itself, and in relation to surrounding
towns, that city ma}' be great, yet in relation to the whole world it may
sixstain very modest proportions. So the purported facts which science
claims may be afiected intrinsically and relationally by further discoveries
oven in the region which is sup[)Osed to come within "the intellectual

'274 THE CITY TEMPLE.

range." We merely say that it may be so, and we tliink that the possi-
bility accords well with what is known iu life generally ; for is it not true
that one experience corrects and modifies another, and that what is true
to tlie child may be untrue to the man ? Professor Tyndall says that
with this mystery he has nothing to do. "We doubt this. He himself
would grant that this mystery should at least teach veneration, attemper
the natural positiveness of one-sided education, and keep men in con-
stant readiness to receive further light. What if " the real mystery of
the universe " be the Living God 1 And what if the Living God has
made a revelation of Himself 1 It is of much consequence to remember
that Professor Tyndall acknowledges that there is something which
transcends reason, something, at least, which reason has not yet dis-
covered, and to remember also that reason, represented by a learned pro-
fessor of science, has confessed iu a scientific congress that " the real
mystery of the universe remains unsolved." According to this con-
fession, which we would not unduly strain, science has not touched the
real mystery ; it has been studying a few phenomena, and so confining
itself to an outside work. This is undoubtedly right, and, if thei'e is any
virtue in the admission, it will follow that those who have studied only
the phenomena of the natural world should not dogmatise even on the
negative side of supernaturalism. According to the cant of the day, if
a man shoidd speak firmly on the positive side of religion, he is pro-
nounced a dogmatist ; but, if he pronounce firmly on the negative side,
he is thought to be a liberal and unsectariau thinker. Is there not a
dogmatism of negation 1 Is there not a cant of latitudiuarianism ? It
may appear to be very modest to declare that we have nothing to do with
" the real mystery of the universe ;" but it may be modesty at the expense
of truth.

Professor T^-ndall says : "Be careful that your conception -of the
Builder of this universe is not an unworthy conception. Invest that
conception with your grandest, and highest, and holiest thought ; but be
careful of pretending to know more about it than is given to man to
know." Probably the professor and ourselves would difter in defining a
" worthy conception " of " the Builder of this universe." From a Chris-
tian point of view we should feel bound to conceive of God as doing
many things which natural reason might doubt. For example, natural
reason might be staggered on finding that Jesus Christ's conception of
God was that of a Father who gave men their daily bread, v/ho noticed
the falling sparrow, who watered the grass of the field, who numbered
the hairs of the head, and did many other things which would not admit
of the word " grand " as commonly understood. We infer that Professor
Tyndall's " conception of the Builder of this universe " is a conception
of infinite magnificence, of omnipotent force, of boundless wdsdom ; and
so far the conception is right. It may, however, be all this, and yet be
intensely heathenish — a modernised mythology or a scientific paganism.
We do not say that it is this ; but looked at in the light of history, there
is certainly a possibility that it may be this and this only. The appeal
to our " conception," too, may be held to be of doubtful validity. If
every man has to idealise a god for himself, who could describe the pan-
theon of the world % Professor Tyndall's challenge has been accepted in

POSTSCRIPT. 2t5

anticipation, and history will tell us what " the grandest, highest, holiest
thought" of "the Builder of this universe" has amounted to. On
Olympus Ave find a court of immortaLs whose acknowledged fraiid indi-
cates a deep depravity ; in Japan we have a temple of ten thousand
idols ; in India we have a sublime Bralun, too ineifitbly calm to be of any
service to the world ; in Athens we have more gods than men ; in Poly-
nesia we have a mythology at once obscene and absurd. So much for
men's " conceptions " of God, — a magnificent but mournful chaos, swel-
tering and surging without any hope of being ruled into order by human
genius. The inquiry which we cannot but think of some consequence
is, Is it probable that a Being capable of exciting the " grandest and
highest and holiest thought" (Professor Tyndall's own words) has made
a revelation of Himself? If He is capable of exciting such thought, is
He incapable of satisfying it 1 Professor Tyndall w-arns his hearers to "be
careful of pretending to know more about it tlian is given to man to
know." There is a counter-warning which may be urged upon Professor
Tvndall ; and that is, to be careful of neglecting to know all that may
be known. If man's knowledge of God is limited to his " conceptions "
(a statement which amounts to a contradiction in terms, for to conceive
is not to know), the exhortation may be pertinent ; but if the knowledge
is founded upon revelation, of course the revelation must determine its
quality and limit. The question of primary importance would seem to
relate exclusively to the fact of a revelation. Is there any revelation of
God 1 If £0, where is it to be found ? It may be afiirmed that God has
not given any revelation of His will, or addressed the moral nature of
man ; but this affirmation gives a direct contradiction to the Bible — what
that contradiction involves cannot now be discussed in detail. On the
other hand, if it be allowed that the Bible contains a revelation of God's
person and will, the inquiry must be confined within the limits of its
statements.

It strikes us that Professor Tyndall's exhortation is too vague to be
scientific, and too materialistic to be religious. " Be careful, above all
things," says he, " of professing to see in the phenomena of the material
world the evidence of the Divine pleasure or displeasure. Doubt those
equally who pretend to see in cholera, cattle-plague, and bad harvests
evidences of Divine anger " — advice which appears to us to be one-sided
and ill-reascned. It is, undoubted)}-, of very high importance to recog-
nise the operation of w^hat may be termed secondary influences, when
considering the causes of cholera, cattle-plague, and bad harvests.
Want of such recognition has unquestionably led to many false con-
clusions, and exposed religious thought to a good deal of severe
aspersion. If Professor Tyndall says that much of cattle-plague or of
cholera may be attributed to neglect of the laws of nature, no sensible
man will contradict him ; but when that admission has been made, the
question of supernatural interposition remains untouched. It will not
V)e denied that cattle-plague, cholera, and bad harvests have some cause.
What is it ] It is granted that in many cases man may have himself to
blame ; the laws of nature are so precise, and so sensitive in their opera-
tion, that cai-elessness is followed by derangement and loss ; but there are
cases in which the utmost carefulness is unrewarded. When man has

276 THE CITY TEMPLE.

illed the ground and sowed the seed, lie can neither command the rain
nor regulate the temperature of the seasons. There is a point at which
man must stand still — exhausted, uninfoi-med, impotent — a point which
Professor Tyndall may call " the I'eal mystery of the universe." At that
point some men begin to fret, othei's begin to pray. Those who begin
to pray have no complaint against science ; on the contrary, they watch
its progress with enlightened and devout interest, and thank God for
every discovery ; nothing has yet been discovered which is incompatible
with the Biblical revelation of the Divine attributes, but very much
which, though indirectly, yet most vividly symbolizes the lustre and the
love of God. We consider it positively immoral to attempt to divorce
science from religion ; each has its own sphere, yet both may be con-
sistent ; the facts of science may illustrate the doctrines of religion ; the
doctrines of religion may give a more splendid significance to the facts of
science. We consider, therefore, that Professor Tyndall has gone out of
his way to asperse what may after all be true in fact, though faulty in
expression, and that in doing so he has shown the insufficiency of the
lesser light to rule the day of the soul.

With regard even to the secondary influences which are supposed ,to
produce cattle-plague, cholera, and bad harvests, the Christian argument
appears to be sound. It is granted that neglect of the laws of nature in
respect to cleanliness and ventilation may cause a plague ; but such
neglect is something more than a mere physical crime ; inasravich as it
endangers life it is an immorality, and as an immorality it is punished
by physical consequences. If it be urged that neglect of the laws of
nature may in some cases be attributed to ignorance, there are those who
would contend that ignorance itself is the result of a false moral standing,
and we cannot biit think that their answer is historically and spiritually
correct. In a word, the Christian argument upon this part of the
question proceeds upon the principle that the greater includes the less^
that physical error is primarily due to moral derangement, and that the
evil consequences which attend physical error are hints of the heavier
judgments which are provoked by strictly moral trespass.

C|e (Citg Cnii|jU.

Report op a Discourse delivered by

JOSEPH PARKER,

In THE Poultry Chapel, ox Thursday Morning, March 3rd, 1870.

ON GOD'S TERRIBLENESS AKD GENTLENESS.

" I will destroy and devour at once. I will make waste mountains and hills, and
dry up all their herbs ; and I will make the rivers islands, and I will dry up the
pools. And I will bring the blind by a way that they knew not ; I will lead
them in paths that they have not known : I will make darkness light before them,
and crooked things straight." — Isaiah xlii. 14—16.

It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. It is
better to fall into the hands of God than into the hands of men. Our
God is a consuming fire — God is love. The combination of great jiower
and great restraint, and, indeed, the combination of opposite qualities
and uses genei'ally, is well known in the ordinary arrangements of civilized
Ufe and the daily operation of the laws of nature. The measure of
greatness is the measure of terribleness. What is constructiveness but
the beneficent side of destructiveness 1 The fire that warms your cham-
ber when properly regulated, will, if abused, reduce your proudest
palaces to ashes. The river, which softens and refreshes the landscape,
if allowed to escape its banks, may devastate the most fruitful fields.
The engine, which is swiftly bearing the laughing child to his longed-for
home, will, if mismanaged, occasion the most terrible havoc. The light-
ning, which may be caught and utilised by genius and skill, can burn
the forest, and strike armies blind. We are familiar with such illus-
trations of united opposites, and our knowledge of them inspires our
enterprise, and attempers "with prudence the noble audacity of practical
.science. In the text we are confronted with the highest expression of
the same truth — the mighty God is the Everlasting Father ; the terrible
One is gentler than the gentlest friend ; He who rides in the chariot of

24

278 THE CITY TEMPLE.

the thunder stoops to lead the bliad by a way that they know not, and
to gather the failing lambs in His bosom.

Without challenging you to accompany me in a speculative study of
the Divine nature, I shall address myself to the solemn practical truth of
the text, viz., that God can do the most terrible things and the most
gentle ; that power belongeth unto God, and also mercy ; that Ho is
either glorious as heaven or fearful as hell ; and, in dwelling upon that
truth, I pray that, seeing both the severity and the goodness of God, we
may rejoice in His presence with trembling, and yield ourselves to the
sweet dominion of His love.

In pointing out the terribleness of God it is not intended to appeal to
fear, but to support and encourage the most loving confidence in His
government. I do not say, Be good, or God will criish you ; that is not
virtue ; that is not liberty — it is vice put on its good behaviour — it is
iniquity with a sword suspended over its head ; it is not even negative
goodness ; it is mischief put liors de combat. The great truth which 'I
wish to preach from this aspect of the case is, that all the terribleness of
God is the good man's security. When the good man sees God wasting
the mountains and the hills, and drying up the rivers, he does not say,
"I must worship Him, or He will destroy me;" he says, "The bene-
ficent side of that 2>ovjer is all mine ; because of that power I am safe ;
the very lightning is my guardian, and in the whirlwind I hear a pledge
of benediction." The good man is delivered from the fear of power ;
power has become to him an assurance of rest ; he says, " My Father
has infinite resources of judgment, and every one of them is to my
trusting heart a signal of unseai'chable riches of mercy."
u 1. Look at the doctrine of the text in relation to bad men loho pride
themselves iqjon their success and tlieir strength. Daily life has always
been a problem to devout wisdom. Virtue has often been crushed out of
the front rank. Vice has forced its way to pre-eminence. The praying
man has often had to kneel upon the cold stones ; the profane man has
often walked upon velvet. These are the commonplaces of daily study
upon the affairs of men. The doctrine of the text is that there is a
power beyond man's, and that nothing is held safely which is not held
by consent of that power. Think of wealth as a mountain, or of social
position as a hill : God says, " I will make waste mountains and hills ;"
our f-reatness is nothing to Him ; our mountain smokes when He
touches it, and our rock melts at His 'presence. All our gain, our
honour, our standing should be looked at in the light of this solemn
doctrine. We are not at liberty to exclude the destructive power of
God from our practical theologj^ We have not to make a God, to fancy
a God, or to propose a modification of a suggested God — God is before

ON god's terribleness and gentleness. 279

us, in His might, His gloiy, His love, and we have to acquaint ourselves
with Him. God is not to be described in parts ; He is to be compre-
hended in the unity of His character. A child describing the lightning
might say, " It was beautiful, so bright, and swifter than any flying bird,
and so quiet that I could not hear it as it passed through the air ; " this
wo\ild be true. A tree might say, " It was awful, it tore off branches
that had been growing for a hundred years, it rent me in twain down
to the very root, and no summer can ever recover me — I am left here to
die ; " this also would be true. So with Almighty God : He is terrible
in power, making nothing of all that man counts strong, yet He will not
break the bruised reed nor quench the smoking flax. What I sj)ecially
wish to insist upon is, that men are bound to be as common-sense in
tlieir theology as they are in the ordinary works of life, and that in
building character they are to be at least as forethoughtful and sagacious
as in building their houses of stone. Hoav do you conduct your arrange-
ments in building a house ] Suppose that it were possible for a man never
to have seen any season but summer, and suppose such a man called
upon to advise in the erection of a building : you can imagine his pro-
cedure ; everything is to be light, because he never heard a high wind ;
Avater-pipes may be exposed, for he never felt the severity of frost jthe
most flimsy roof will be suflicient, for he knows nothing of the great
rains of winter and spring. Tell such a man that the Avinds will become
stormy, that the rivers will be chilled into ice, that his wixidows will be
blinded with snow, and that floods will beat upon his roof, and if he is a
wise man he will say, " I must not build for one season, but for all seasons ;
I must not build for fine days, but for days that will be tempestuous ; I
must, as far as possible, prei^are for the most inclement and trying
weather." That is simple common sense. Now, why be less sensible in
building a character than in building a house 1 We build our bi'icks for
severity as well as for sunshine, why build our characters with less care 1
If in summer we think about the frost, why not in prosperity have some
thought for adversity % If in July we prepai'e for December, why not in the
flattering hour of exultation think of the judgment that is at once infallible
and irresistible '] As he would be infinitely foolish who should build his
house without thinking of the natural forces that will try its strength,
so is he cursed with insanity who builds his character without thinking
of the fire with which God will tiy every man's work of what sort it is.
Is not the same truth illustrated by every ship upon the great waters ?
The child Avho has only sailed his paper boat on the edge of a placid lake,
might wonder what was wanted with enormous beams and bars of iron,
innumerable bolts and screws, and clasps and bars of metal, in making a
ship : ask the sailor, and he will answer ; he says we must be prepared

280 THE CITY TEMPLE.

for something more than calm days, we must look a-liead, the breakers
■will try us, the -winds will put us to the test, we may come upon an
unknown rock, we must be pi'epared for the worst as well as for the
best. "We call this prudence. We condemn its omission. We applaud
its observance. What of men who attempt the stormy and treacherous
waters of life without having had any regard to the probable dangers of
the voyage 1 This is not fervent declamation. I claim for this putting
of the case, the credit which is due to correct analogy and conclusive
argument. We prepare for the severe side of Nature — why ignore the
severe aspect of God 1 We think of fire in building our houses— why
forget it in building our character % On one side of our life we ai'e con-
stantly on the outlook for danger — why forget it where the destiny of
the soul is concerned ? When a man builds his house or his ship strongly,
we do not say that he is the victim of fear ; we never think of calling
him a fanatic ; we rather say that he is a cautious and even scientific
man : so, when I make appeal to the severity of God — to His fire, His
sword, His destroying tempests and floods — I am not preaching the mere
terrors of the Lord, as if I would move by alarm, rather than persuade
by love ; I am simply faithful to facts — I am reminding those who hear
me that God is not less complete than the seasons which He has made,
and bidding them, in the summer of His mercies, not to forget the
winter of his judgments !

The so-called success of the bad man has yet to stand the strain of
Divine trial. God will go through our money to see if it has been
honestly obtained. He will search our rej^utation, and our hypocrisy
will not be able to conceal the reality of the case from His all-seeing eye.
He will examine our title-deeds, and if we have ill-gotten property, He
will set the universe against us, until we restore it with penitence
or have it wrenched out of our Iceeping by retributive misfoi-tune. Yea,
though our strength be as a mountain, it shall be wasted ; though it be
as a hill, it shall be blown away, and the world shall see how poorly
they build who build only for the light and quietness of summer. Don't
say the winter is long in coming ; it imll come, and that is the one fact
which should move your concern and bring you to wisdom. In these
days, when the world is in a constant panic, when men are over-driving
one another, when commerce has been turned into gambling, and shai'p-
shooters pass as honest men, it is needful that we all remind ourselves
that God will judge the people righteously, and try all men by the test
of His own holiness. Remember, we are not stronger than our weakest
point, and that true wisdom binds us to watch even the least gate that is
insuflicient or insecure.

2. Look at the, doctrine of the text as an encouragement to all men loho

ON gob's terribleness and gentleness. 281

v)ork under the guidance of God. " I will bring the blind by a way that
they knew not : I will lead them in paths that they have not known : I
will make darkness light before them, and crooked things straif^ht." God
thus declares Himself gentle to those who trulj' need Him. He promises
nothing to the self-sufficient ; He promises much to the needy. The text
shows the principle upon which Divine help is given to men — the prin-
ciple of conscious need and of willingness to be guided. Let a man say,
" I am rich and increased in goods, and have need of nothing," and God
will leave him to his proud sufficiency ; let him, on the other hand feel
his weakness and insignificance, and God will bless him with all the help
which he requires in the most difficult passages of his life. A true
apprehension of this doctrine will give us a new view of daily provi-
dences— viz., that men loho are apparently most destitute may in reality
he most richly enjoying the blessings of God. Clearly, we are not to judge
human life by outward conditions. We are not to overlook the beneficent
law of compensation. Those who appai'ently have least may in reality
have most. Who can tell what visions of himself God grants to men
who cannot see His outward works 1 Blindness may not be merely so
much defect, it may be but another condition of happiness. Who can say
that it does not bring the soul so much nearer God 1 Be that as it may,
it is plainly taught in the text that God undertakes to lead all men who
will yield themselves to His guidance, and that their defects, instead of
being a hindrance, are, in reality, the express conditions on which ofiers
of Divine help are founded. It is because we are blind that He will lead
us. It is because we are weak that He will carry us. It is because we
have nothing that He offer's to give us all things. God, addressing Him-
self to hiiman weakness, is the complement of God wasting moim tains
and hills ; God, shedding the morning dew on awaking flowers, is the
complement of God affrighting the earth with tempests and vexing the
sea with storms. There is an ixnsearchable depth of pathos in the doc-
trine that God is gentle to human weakness, and that He will make up
with His own hands what is wanting in human faculty. Strong men.
seldom care for the weak, the blind are put on one side, the incapable
are dismissed with impatience ; but here is God, the Lord, the Creator
of the ends of the earth, taking the blind man's hand and leading him
like a child specially beloved !

From all this it is clear that self-sufficiency on the part of man is an
offence to God ; not only so, it is a vexation to man himself. All efforts
at completeness and independence of strength end in mortification.
Towards one another we are to be self-reliant ; towards God we are to be
humble, dependent, all-trustful . How infinite is our folly in seeking to
remove, by our own power, the mountains and hills that bar oiir way !

282 THE CITY TEMPLE.

God says He will remove them for us ; why should we turn away His
mighty arm 1 He claims such work as His own ; why should we meddle
with it as if we could do it better than He 1 But some of us wil^
meddle : we persist in seeking omnipotence in our own hands, and
trying to reach the tone which winds and seas obey. We will do it.
The devil ui'ges us, and we yield. He says, " Be your own God," and we
snatch at the suggestion as a prize. He says, " This little mountain you
might surely manage to remove;" and then we set to work with pickaxe and
shovel, and lo, the mountain grows as we strike it ! Still the devil says,
" It stands to reason that you must be making some impression vipon it ;
try again ; " and we try again, and again we fail — the mountain does not
know us, the rock resents our intrusion, and having wasted our strength,
the devil laughs at ovu- impotence, and tells us in bitter mockery that we
shall do better next time ! Yes ! Next time — next time — and then
next time — and then hell ! God says to us, when we stand at the foot
of great hills and mountains, "I will beat them into dust, I will scatter
the dust to the winds ; there shall be a level path for your feet, if you
will but put your trust in me." I hold this to be a sublime offer. No
man who has heard it ought to feel himself at liberty to act as if God
had not made a proposition to him. And such propositions ought to
endear God to our hearts. Here He is beside us, before us, round about
us, to help, to lead, to bless us in every way ; not a figure in the distant
clouds, not an occasional appearance under circumstances that dazzle and
confound us, but always at our right hand, always within reach of our
prayer, always putting out His hand when we come to dangeroiis places.
As a mere conception of God, this reaches the f)oint of sublimity. The
coarsest mind might dream of God's infinite majesty, but only the richest
quality of heart could have discovered Him in the touch of gentleness
and the service of condescension. Let us make such use of this revelation
of the Divine character as will save us from tuniing our theology into the
chief terror of our lives. Their theology is, indeed, to some men a
frightful spectre. They would be happier if they were atheists. They
fitfully slumber on the slopes of a volcano, and to them heaven itself is
but the less of two evils. Behold ! Behold ! I call you to a God
whose very terribleness may be turned into an assurance of security, and
whose love is infinite, unchanging, eternal !

Men of business ! ye whose barns are full, whose rivers overflow, on
whose estates the sun has written " Prospeeity," and into whose garners
autumn has forced the richest of her golden sheaves, hear me ! Know
ye that these things are all gifts of God, and that He who gave them can
also withdraw them 1 " I will destroy and devour at once — I will dry

ON god's terribleness and gentleness. 283

up all their herbs. " He has right of way through our fields and orchards ;
our viueyards and oliveyards are His, aud He can blow upon them until
they wither, and cause their blossom to go up like the dust. " I have
seen the wicked in great power, and spreading himself like a green bay-
tree, yet he passed away, and lo, he was not : yea, I sought him, but he
could not be found." Not a fibre of his i-oot could be discovered ! Not
so much as a withered leaf drifted into a ditch could be traced ! All
gone — the great branches gone — the bark gone — the trunk gone — the
root gone — aud the very name had perished from the recollection of men !
It is poor prosperity that is not held by God's favour. Gold goes a little
way if it be not sanctified by prayer and giving of thanks. Bread cannot
satisfy, unless it be broken by God's hands. Our fields may look well
at night, but in the morning they may have been trampled by an invisible
destroyer. Do not say I am urging you by fear ; I deny the charge ; it
is because of coming winter that I advise men to build strongly, and it is
because of inevitable judgment that I call upon men to walk in the light
of righteousness in all the transactions of life.

Children of God ! ye especially who are called to suflfering and weak-
ness and great unrest because of manifold defect, God offers you his hand.
Are you blind 1 He says, I will lead the blind. Are you full of care ?
He says, Let me carry your burden. Ax*e you. in sorrow? He says.
Call upon me in the day of trouble, and I will answer thee. Is there a
very steep road before you at this moment — in business, in your family,
in your responsibilities 1 He says, I will make waste mountains and
hills, and the rough places shall be made plain. So you. are not alone — •
not alone, for the Father is with you. He is with you as a Father, not
to try your strength, but to increase it ; not to make experiments upon
you, but to magnify His grace in you by working out for you a wonderful
redemption. Eest on God. His arm, not your own, must be your
strength. Fear God, and no other fear shall ever troiible you.

Now, let us pray ; let us pray with our whole heart, and the terrible
God will show us the fulness of His mercy : —

Almighty God, clothed with thunder, and carrying with Thee the
lightning which makes men tremble with great fear, we have heard that
Thou canst make waste mountains and hills, and shake the foundations
of the earth; we have heard also of Thy loving-kindness and tender mercy,
and our souls have hoped in Thy grace. We bless Thee that in Christ
Jesus, our only aud ever-suflficient Saviour, even Thy terrors are blessings,

284 THK CITY TEMPLE.

and the multitude of Thy mighty works show liow immeasurably profound
is Thy love. When Thou tearest, Thou dost bind up again ; when Thou
castest down Thy people, it is that Thou mayest sui-prise and gladden
them by unlooked-for exaltation. Thou hast Thy way in tlie whirlwind,
and the clouds are the dust of Thy feet. Thy chariots are twenty
thousand, even thousands of thousands, yet Thou stoojjest to take up
the weary lamb, and to revive the heart of Thy children. Though Thou
canst thunder in Thy univei-se until all beings pause in the silence of
fear, yet canst Thou speak to desponding men in a still small voice, and
heal them with the gentlest comfort. We desire to know Thee in all
the revealed aspects of Thy nature, and to walk before Thee with the
carefulness of reverence and the joy of love. Thou art our refuge and
strength; Thou art our shield and buckler; Thou givest gx-ace and glory;
Thou comest to us in the snows of winter and in the tender buddings of
the spring; Thou temperest judgment with mercy. May the meditation
in which we have engaged this day subdue us, yet cheer our hearts as
with renewed hope ! May Thy servants fear Thee, O great King ; may
Thy saints rejoice in Thee, O gracious Father ! We quail before Thy
power, we are made glad by Thy love ; may we rejoice with trembling !
Specially draw our tenderest aifections to the Cross of the dying Saviour.
In that Cross we see how wonderful is Thy righteousness, and how
boundless is Thy love. It reveals to us the terribleness of the law, and
shows to us the source and sufficiency of the Gospel ; we would abide at
the Cross, so mournful, yet so full of hope, until we abhor our sin, and
become partakers of Thy holiness. Blessed One, life of all life, and
glory of all light. Creator, Father, Saviour, complete in us the hallowed
mystery of redemption by the Cross. Amen.

A DiSCOUESE DELIVERED BY

JOSEPH PAEKEE,

In THE Poultry Chapel, on Thursday Morning, March 17th, 1870,

NIGHT AND MOENING.

" Simon Peter saith unto them, I go a fishing. They say unto him, We also go
with thee. "— JopN xxi. 3.

Do not we want men in life who will give the starting word, men who
have propositions to make, and men who will take upon themselves the
responsibility of working out those propositions 1 " I go a fishing," says
Simon Peter. " I do not ask what you are going to do, but I distinctly
tell you what I am going to do." And what is the effect of it ? The
effect of it is that other people at once go with him. Such is life, A
man of invention, a man of conceptive energy of mind, a man who has
notions, and ideas, and propositions, and\vho boldly says, " I am going
to do this," — men of that kind are wanted in the world. And so are the
" We." You cannot alwaj'^s do with the " I " of the text, you must also
have the "we." "I go." "We also go with thee." That is just the
way in which the " I " and the " we " should stand ; the " I " first, the
individual man first, the personal consecration first, and then will follow
support, and popularity, and crowd, and patronage, and association, and
all the things that usually come after mightiness of will and distinctness
of determination. Have you ever tried that in your own way of life, ever
distinctly turned round upon anybody, and said, " I am going to serve
the Lord" 1 You have no idea what a wonderful preacher you would
be if you would say that tenderly, and humbly, and prayerfully, and with
all tremblingness of self-insufficiency and perfect dependence upon the
great everlasting Power. Have you ever said so in your family — said to
your children, " Children, I am going to follow the Saviour" 1 Why,
you do not know how all the little things would look up at you so
brightly and trustingly, and you would be twice over a father to them.
In general life get a notion, get a distinct idea, and boldly say, trusting
to God, " I am going to do this," and no man ever speaks this kind of
word in a right spirit and with a right intent, ^without influencing the
circle of which he is the centre. Do not be afraid of what you call

2^

286 THE CITY TEMPLE.

egotism. It will be your blame if there is any egotism. I heard a lady
say, some time ago, that she had laid the foundation stone of a chapel,
and delivered an address, " And," said she, " I never said ' I ' all the
time." Why, poor creature, she said nothing but " I " if she liad known
it. When you know that you are not saying " I," then you are most
egotistic. The moment self-consciousness comes in, and you say, " Oh,
that is the first personal pronoun, and that looks very egotistic ; I shall
change that ' I ' for a ' we ' or throw the personal into the impersonal,"
— the moment you begin trifling in that way with your grammar or
speech, you become intensely and unpardonably egotistic.

I want to show you, as we go along this narrative, that we must have
two kinds of men in society, the man of distinct aim, the man of so-called
egotistic power, and the men who Ml in with his ai"rangements, and go
along to assist him in his work, to divide his responsibilities and multiply
his joys.

" They went forth, and entei'ed into a ship immediately; and that night
they caught nothing." What a report to give of a man's work ! And is
there not a great lesson here for workers of all kinds i What was the
report of these men 1 Two words, — " night " and " nothing." What a
summary of life — "Night" and "nothing!" And they were not to
blame for it either. And here I wish to speak a word to those often
discouraged friends who are doing their little best, and yet find, when
they come to reckon up what they have been doing, that it just comes to
these two words, " night " and " nothing." Well, let us think about your
case awhile. You did go forth, did you not, to woi'k, to serve, to set youi'-
self in co-operation with Almighty God 1 It might be in a little sphei-e
in a humble kind of way, but you had the intention to do right, and you
went out to do it, and you have been labouring all the time, and it has
come to " night " and "nothing." Do not be discouraged; do not be
cast down; do not look at other people, and say, " See what wonderful
results have attended the ministry, the service, the labouring of such
people as these." If you have been doing your work in a right spirit,
perseveringlj^, devoutly, without self-suiEciency, continuously, and hope-
fully, you have nothing to do with the results at all. Oh, Avhen will
people give over adding up ? What have I, as a minister of the gospel,
to do with adding up 1 In proportion to the greatness, the scope, the
grandeur, and spirituality of my work, is there nothing that can be added
up. You must take care lest your arithmetic destroy j'^our enthusiasm,
and quench your inspiration. What we have to do is to work as though
everything depended upon us, and then to go away and cry mightily unto
God, as if we had no power at all. Now it is very possible that in
business, in the family, in the Church, in the tSunday-school, in the
missionary field, " night " and " nothing " may sum up pretty much from
the human side the results of our labour. But let me pause, lest any
dog should eat this bread, for not a crumb of this bread must be had by

NIGHT AND MORNING. 287

any living dog. If a man shall say, " Well, that is just my case, —
' night' and 'nothing' — and I do not trouble about it : I shall live as I
list ; I shall put forth no effort : if anything shall come of this work, and
this doing of things, well and good, but I shall not concern myself about
it ;" I say that is a dog who has no right to eat a solitary crumb of this
bread that cometh down from heaven, this encouragement to true
labourers, this word cheering, and helpful, and hopeful, which is intended
only for men who do work, and who do pray, and yet who have only
" night " and " nothing " as their apparent earthly reward.

Now let us go on to the next verse, but let us shade our eyes lest the
light be too much for us. " But when the morning was now come, Jesus
stood on the shore." " Morning" and "Jesus." Will you not write a
poem on these words, — "Morning" and "Jesus"? Or put the two
words together, and just see the rapid variations of human life ; — " night "
and "nothing," "morning" and "Jesus." And that is Christian life,
and in as far as we are intensely, vitally Christian do we enter into the
mystery of these apparent contradictions. Meet a Christian man under
certain circumstances, and you will see, as it were, upon his countenance,
" night " and " nothing." You say, " How gloomy he is, and how much,
depressed. Why there was no spring in him, no tunefulness, no inspira-
tion, only ' night ' and ' nothing.' " Very well. See him the next day,
or month, or year, and his countenance glows like the morning, and his
voice is tuneful, and he brings with him an atmosphere pure, and vital,
and vitalising. That is Christian life, — sometimes very low, but always
in Christ, and always on the rock. Dwell upon these sweet and tuneful
words a little longer if you please. Look at them if you can see, because
the eye will help the ear. " When the morning was now come, Jesus
stood on the shore." Why, He had been on the shore all night if they
had but known it. We poor navigators and fishermen are tossed upon ,
the nightly deep, the dark sea, the troubled waters, and we cannot even
see the shore, but it isour joy to believe that He who makes the morning
is standing yonder, and that we shall see him by-and by. What is this
life of ours but just a troubled lake, heaving and swelling and tossing,
breaking into billows and dashing into foam, rising into storms, and
occasionally falling into a beau.tiful calm ? What is it but just something
like that ? And when our fishing is done and we give it up, and want to
get home, yonder the Saviour is standing on the shore, and saying,
" Children." My friend, have you any Christ on your shore 1 Have
you any hope that when your little fishing is done, and you have passed
through " night," and caught " nothing," you will see Him on the shore
who makes the " morning" ? It will be a poor, wretched life for you if
there be not in the midst of it, and round about it this inspiring hope,
this sxxre abiding and transporting confidence.

" But the disciples knew not that it was Jesus." Have you thought
much about this power of concealment on the part of God ? Dwell

288 THE CITY TEMPLE.

upon tliat notion occasionally, and it will clieei' you very much, — this
power of disguise, this power of not being God, as it were, to a man.
' We speak of blessings in disguise. What if God be always in disguise ]
What if the brightest revelation of God which is possible to us down
here turn out in the long run to have been but a disguise, as it were a
faint attempt to do the impossible 1 " But the disciples knew not that it
was Jesus." When they walked to Emmaus and the stranger drew near
and talked to them as they had never been talked to before, ".they knew
not that it was Jesus." "Their eyes were holden that they should not
know him." And is it not sometimes good for us that we should not
know God in some of His dispensations, that for a small moment (can
you measure that 1) He should forsake us 1 That momentary abandon-
ment brings in His everlasting kindness with such richness, and glory,
and sweetness. Let us think of this for our own uplifting of soul, and
comfort, and confidence, — that Jesus Chi'ist is always near though we do
not always see him. Let it be the comfort and strength of our hearts that
though we may not always see Him, His eye is never for a moment taken
from us. We see Him not, and yet we do see Him with the vision of
the soul. We cannot point Him out as John pointed Him out, yet we
are conscious that He is close at hand, watching our service and making
our morning.

" Children, have ye any meat ] They answered Him, No." What
a report to give of the Christian condition ! What struggles this Church
of Christ had at the beginning, and what struggles it has now ! " Have
ye any meat, members of the kingdom of Christ, apostles of this kingdom,
and teachers of this truth?" And they said, "No." It is perfectly
possible to be a Christian and yet to have no meat. You remember that
wretch in the gospels who is described by his clothes and his dinner, —
just those two things said about him, " A certain rich man, who was
clothed in puz'ple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day." A
man summed up by his coat and his dinner, and there is nothing else to
be said about him. He had purple and plenteous fare, and that is his
liistory. " Children, have ye any meat 1 And they answered Him,
No." To such straits may good men be driven ! Through such
struggling and difiiculty has the Church passed. Sometimes we now
near that the days of pei-seoution are gone, the days of struggling have
gone. Shall I venture an answer to that little riddle 1 I think I can
make it out on the spot, and satisfactorily. You say, "Why have the
days of persecution gone?" I answer inquiringly, " Have not the days
of godliness gone V " They that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall
suffer persecution ;" and if thei-e are no martyrs now it may be, perhaps,
because in some degree the spirit of utter unworldliness and perfect con-
secration to God and heaven may have decayed. I will not boldly say
that such is the case, but I will now and again put to myself this

NIGflT AND MORNING. ^89

question, "Is it not true that tlie days of persecution, and struggle, and
poverty, and difficulty liave gone, because the spirit of lofty, surpassing,
and magnanimous devotion to Christ has in some degree dwindled and
decayed 1 "

Here then is a beautiful scene for us : let us dwell on the picture
awhile. The disciples without their Master on yonder water fishing,
fishing all night, taking nothing, the morning coming silently aroimd
them, and a figure on the shore, and to the disciples it was nothing but a
figure, only a distant thing without special life, without peculiar signi- ,
ficance, nothing to them but a figure ; — and yet it was the Saviour. Is
not that a very lovely, pathetic picture 1 Does it not touch the imagina- ■
tion and move the heart 1

Now we come from the picture to the interview opened by these
words, "Children, have ye any meat? They answered him. No."
What did He say to them 'I He said what He always says, the directing
word. Hear Him : — '' Cast the net on the right side of the ship, and ye
shall find." What does He know about it, standing on the land, a
stranger, they fishermen by profession who have spent a life-time in this
work 1 Who is He that He should know what to say to them in that
hour 1 They did cast, " and now they were not able to draw it for the
multitude of fishes." Is there not a lesson here for all Christian workers 1
What is it 1 This prayer should never be absent from our lips, " Lord
Jesus, thou knovvest which is the right side of the ship in this business of
mine, in these family concerns of mine, in this Christian ministry of mine,
in this missionary work which I have undertaken. Blessed, gentle
Christ, teach me how and where to cast the net." Brethren, go out
fishing without Christ and you ^vill have " night" and "nothing ;" work
according to His counsel and the sea itself shall open its caverns and
hiding-places, and riches and treasures — all things are yours when ye are
Christ's. Jesus Christ knows about everything, knows about fishing, ■»
knows about shopkeeping, knows about banking, knows about all kinds
of commerce. He knows your Stock Exchange better than you know it,
and your Bank of England, and all your little mercantile concerns. It
is an awful and insiilFerable calumny to say that religion is not biisiness,
and business is not religion. There is a great black line drawn by some
hands between the two. It is wrong to do that. If I were going a
fishing in the common literal sense of the term, let me have Christ with
me. If I open a shop in one of these streets, let Christ always stand
behind the counter with me, telling me which is the right balance, and
the right measure, and the right standard, teaching me how to keep my
books, and how to conduct my commercial intercourse ; and if I ascend
to the highest place in political and social life, let Christ be with me and
I will beat you every one if you do not take Him. If you young men
would only take hold of that notion that Christ knows about fishing and

290

THE CITY TEMPLE.

all the common concerns of life, that He holds the whole earth in His
hands, you would in a spirit of imboastfulness, of loving trust, of self-
insufficiency, be enabled to work your way through " night " and
" nothing" to " morning" and " multitudes." Do not ask me to prove
that by any logical process. If you say, "How do you prove that 1" I
say, *' I am the proof" If a man can only prove his propositions and
demonstrate his sermons on a black board, he will never make anything
exit of the world. He must himself be the sermon and be the proof. He
must say, " I am the life, and the truth, and the way under Christ,
and in Christ, and according to Christ's revelation in me," and then
no man shall be able to pluck him out of his Father's hand.

Another very beautiful incident in the seventh verse, — "Therefoi'e
that disciple whom Jesus loved saith unto Peter, It is the Lord." O
thrilling revelation, wonderfully true suggestion that ! Love has the
quickest ear, love has the sharpest, keenest, brightest eye. Did you
hear that child cry just now, sitting in your friend's room? 'No, you
did not hear anything of it, because you are a stranger. But look hoAv
the mother runs away. " Where are you going 1" " Oh," she says, •' I
heard the child cry." " What a hearing ear a mother has ! I never
heard it ciy, but she heard it." Love is always on the alert; love is
always quick. If I do anything for a friend that loves me, he sees in it
things that I did not see myself. If I read the book of a friend whom I
really and truly revere and love, his book shines out upon me, and I see
in it riches of thought and beauties of expression of which the author
himself perhaps is unconscious ; and in proportion as I love the Saviour
do I see Him eveiywhere, and say about the common concerns of life,
"Why, this is the Lord." I receive unexpected bounties — "It is the
Lord." I am unexpectedly delivered out of great difficulties — "It is the
Lord." My way is opened up in life — " It is the Lord." My sicknesses
are healed — " It is the Lord." Just in proportion as we grow in love do
we gi'ow in the faculty of interpi-etation, and the time will come when
this blessed book will be expounded by love, by heart, by feeling. We
shall not go down in intellect, we shall not decay in any of those
scholastic faculties which are worthily held in high estimation, but over
all, beyond them all there will come this interpreting power of love,
which shall give us new interpretations according to the newness and
difficulty of our circumstances. Who was it that found out it was the
Lord 1 Who was it that gave divinity to yonder figure 1 Who was it
that brought that figure out in all its gi-andeur, and lustre, and purity ?
It was " that disciple whom Jesus loved ; " and if I want a guide through
this book I say, give me a man that loves, the man that has a great,
sensitive, far-sighted heart, and he vdll guide me through difficulties
which any other interpreter will regard as iasoluble or insurmountable.

Then another beautiful thing comes out. You observe in the first

>"1GHT AND MOKNING, 291

instance Simon Peter says, "I go a-fishing;" in the next a higher inci- »
dent, it was the " disciple whom Jesus loved " who gave the guiding word,
"It is the Lord." So we have different methods of doing things, and
each man is called to Ills own work. There must be a man getting np -
now and again who says, " I go," and who causes other peo})le to say,
" We also go ; " and there must be another type, a higher type of man
still, who will say to us again and again in life, " It is the Lord," " It isv'
the Lord." It does not all come from Simon Peter ; it does not all come
from one man. We are many members, but we are one body, and if any
man here can speak a true word for Christ, and say something that will
helj) in the great service, let him be recognized as God's servant though
he does not say what we say, and though he happens to make suggestions
which we never thought of.

Now Simon Peter comes again. " Now when Simon Peter heard that
it was the Lord, he cast himself into the sea." The same man, you
observe — " I go a fishing " — a going man, a moving man, not a contem- .
platist, not a mystic, but an active man — " I go," " I cast myself into the
sea." Beautiful consistency in the character. But what a very impro-
per way of doing it ! To think of any man casting himself into the sea *
— what a shockingly improper thing to do ! No : there is nothing
improper to the individual, distinctive enthusiasm of this man. If any
other man of the number had cast himself into the sea, he would have •
made a fool of himself ; he would have been out of place altogether ; it
would not have been like him ; he must go round in the little boat and
work his way somehow. But it was natural for this man to cast himself
into the sea. My only wonder is that he got into his coat, and did not »
instantly cast himself into the sea ; but he only snatched it up, I know,
and was in the sea before he could pull it properly on. But why this '
haste 1 Ah, this man's heart had been wrung for the last few days.
He had denied his Master, and cui^sed, and sworn, and said, " I know not
the man," and the very moment he hears of his being yonder he casts
himself into the sea, and goes to have an interview with his Lord. Who
can tell what passed between them when the one stood on the shore and
the other fell down in the dust and cried, " God be merciful unto me" ?
Penitence will cause a man to do that kind of thing. According to the .
depth, and intensity, and reality of his penitence will he resort to methods
of getting near his Lord. Do not let us therefore condemn jieople who
have other methods of going than our own. He wanted to say some- ,
thing, and he did not want anybody to be there when he said it ; and
there are times when we want to be alone with the Lord. We do not
always want to pray in these public buildings ; we want to get away
sometimes, and enter into our closet, and shut the door, and pray to our
Father in secret, and tell Him what we have done, tell Him of things we
dare not name to our dearest friend, and shed before Him such tears as

292 THE CITY TEMPLE,

uevei' rolled down our cheeks in public. And now he is gone, and I
like to think of his going so, and talking thus to his Lord, and I am sure
no man ever went in that way to his Lord without his Lord instantly
meeting him with fulness of love and tenderness of pardon. Dear friend,
have you occasion to seek your Lord in this way 1 Are you saying to
yourself, " I am only waiting until I know where He is, and I will go to

' Him." He is here now. He is in this very house to-day, and He waits
to be gracious ; and if yon have betrayed Him, and abused Him, and been
false to Him, and told people yon did not know Him, you may go to
Him now, and such is His love that before you can tell half your tale He
will give you all His mercy, and pity, and pardon.

And then we want the other class of men. *'' The other disciples came

« in a little ship, dragging the net with fishes." We like to see a man
who cares nothing about the fishes, who instantly rushes into the sea and
passes over to his Lord, but it is an exceedingly convenient thing in life
to have a number of other men quite of a different class, who will come
in a little boat and bring the little fishes with them. Yes, we want you
all. You slow-headed, slow-footed, careful people, you judicious and
discreet people who count the fishes one by one and set them down in
your housekeeper's book, and ask at the end of the week where they are
gone to, we want you. We want yom' prudent and careful people,
Martha as well as Mar}^, all of you, and we want you young people full
of fire, and passion, and enthusiasm, who cannot stay to count whether
there are a hundred and fifty fishes or a hundred and fifty- three, but
who go at your work with a cordiality, and rapture, and noble youthful
eagerness. We want all of you. In the sanctuary there is room for
everybody, for every faculty, for every emotion, for the most solid attain-
ments in character, and for all that is youthful and hopeful, though
oftentimes, perhaps, rash and indiscreet.

Then, what have we this morning 1 We have a picture and an inter-

• view, a picture of life, life on the sea, life doing its work, having a sign
written upon it, " Night and nothing." We have Christ on the shore, Christ
watching, Christ waiting, Christ enquiring, Christ directing, and then the
great and glorious result of working under His counsel. And is it not the
same in our teaching, in the school, in oixr evangelising labours, in the
city, and in our gi-and missionary enterprises 1 Let our brethren go
away to far-ofi" shores in their own strength, and you will have in your
missionary reports but two words — " night" and " nothing;" but let them

. fo in Christ's name and for Christ's sake, and in Christ's company, and
with Christ's Spirit, and we shall, not perhaps to-morrow or next May,
but in the grand summing up of this mediatorial economy have "morn-
ing" and "multitude," and inability on the part of man to bring all that
God has given, and God Himself must assist in gathex'ing up the great
results of a Christ-diirected aad Christ-sustained ministry.

E,EPOitT OF A SeHVICE CONDUCTED BY

JOSEPH PARKER,

In THE Poultry CiiAPEL, on Thursday Morning, March 17th, 1870,

c iHrmicr.

ALMiGHTi' God, do Thou graciously prepare our liearts to wait profit-
ably upon Thee. May our praise be lofty ; may our thanksgiving
overflow ; may our confession be marked by the deepest contrition ;
and may our intercession be prevalent through Jesus Christ our Saviour.
Let the words of our mouth and the meditations of our heart be accept-
able in thy sight, O Lord, our Strength and our Redeemer. We have
come to think about Jesus Christ our blessed and infinitely sufficient
Saviour, who loved us and gave Himself for us, and who is able to save
unto the uttermost, seeing tliat He ever liveth to make intercession for
us. "We rejoice that when we talk of Christ He Himself draws near j
and though for a time He may hold our eyes lest we see Him, yet will
He, by exposition of His blessed Word, cause our hearts to burn within
us while the Scriptures are being opened to us. We rejoice that men
cannot talk about Christ in Christ's absence ; wherever two or three are
gathered together in His name there He Himself is, not outside, not at
a distance, but in the midst. We are glad to know that ever on our
lonely and saddened way from the city of peace, when we think our
hopes have been disappointed, and our gladdest desires have been
quenched in sorrow, even there the Stranger is transfigured into a
Saviour ; the lonely wanderer becomes to us the Eevealer of Divine
truth. It is our joy, therefore, to know that inasmuch as we have now
come to worship the Saviour, the Savioiir Himself will make our hearts
glad with inexpressible joy. We would call upon our soul and all that
is within us to praise the Lord. Thou hast done great things for us

2G

29-i THE CITY TEMPLE.

whereof we ai'e glad. Thou hast anointed our head with oil ; Thou hast
spi-ead our table in the wilderness ; Thou hast filled onr mouth with good
things ; Thou hast renewed our youth like the eagle's ; Thou hast kept
our eyes from tears, and our feet from falling, and our soul from death.
What shall we render unto the Lord for all His benefits towards us]
We will take the cup of salvation, and call upon the name of the Lord ;
we will make a joyful noise unto the Rock of our salvation ; the strong
man in his strength, the Avomanly heart in all its inspiration of love, the
little child's voice, in all its unsuspecting gladness, Thou shalt hear in
the sanctuary praising Thy name. Blessing, and honour, and glory,
and power, majesty, and dominion, and exaltation, riches and sovereignty,
and homage be unto Him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the
Lamb for ever and ever.

We confess our sins. If we say that we have no sin we deceive our-
selves, and the truth is not in us. We take sin and shame to ourselves,
and are our own witnesses that we have done the things we^ ought not
to have done ; we have proved that our own heart is deceitful above
all things, and desperately wicked. We are by nature the children of
wrath, even as others ; even if in our hand there be no public crime, yet
in our heart is thejvery seat of the devil. If there be no outward stream
of pollution to which men can point in condemnation of our lives,
yet are there springs and fountains of iniquity in the depths of our
nature, and our heart is like the troubled sea. We confess and
mourn our evil ; but is there not a fountain opened in the house
of David for sin and for uucleauness ? Doth not the blood of
Jesus Christ, Thy Son, cleanse from all sin ] Was He not wounded
for cur ti'ansgressions and bruised for our iniquities 1 Was not the
chastisement of our peace laid upon Him, and by His stripes are we not
healed 1 This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that
Jesus Christ came into the world to sa-\'e sinners. God be merciful
unto us, and let us know the completeness and glory of the Lord's
I'edemption. Save us, v/e humbly beseech Thee. In the pitifulness of
Thy great mercy help us and save us, we humbly beseech Thee. O Lord
Christ Jesu, Saviour of the world, Image of the Father, and Brother of
man, save us and help us, we humbly beseech Thee ; then shall our
hearts overflow with joy, and our life shall testify that Thou openest the
doors of the prison-house. Let Thy mercy co^ne to us in whatsoever
forms Thou seest right and best for us ; even if Thy mercy should come
cloaked with heavy afflictions, still may the door of our heart be opened,
and may the voice of our desire and trust say, "It is the Lord." If it
should come in sunny pros]>erity, doubling the brightness of our day?!,
causing our olive-yards and our fig-trees to bring forth abundantly,

THE PRAYER. "• 2D5

giving VIS Ijlessing in basket and in store, may we know that we have
nothing that we ha\"c not received ; and to whom much is given, of
them shall much be required. If Thou shouldest see fit to lay us aside,
to appoint unto us wearisome days and nights, to withdraw us from
battle that we may take no part in it, to disappoint us just at the
moment when victory appears to be within reach — if Thou dost dash the
golden chalice from our lips just as we are going to quench our thirst —
enable us to say, still lovingly, with triumph and assurance of righteous-
ness on Thy part, "It is the Lord ; let Him do what seemeth good in
His sight." In whatsoever form Thy mercy cometh unto us, may we
welcome it as the angel of God, and be glad evermore in the Lord. Put
within us Thy Holy Spirit. "VVe would be holy, as Thou art holy ; we
would be wise, and true, and strong, and noble, and gentle, condescending,
meek, patient, charitable. We woidd abound in all the fruits and
evidences of a godly life. To this end do Thou baptize us with the
Holy Ghost. Hear our prayer for any special cases of joy, sorrow,
doubt, conflict. As the rain cometh down from heaven and watereth
the roots of the great tree, and baptizeth the tiniest flower in the garden
and the mead, so may the niins of Thy blessing fertilise us all — the
strongest and the weakest, the eldest and the youngest— and may we
know of a surety that God is in our midst. Bless us as a Church and
people : may the ministry of this house be inspired of Christ ; may the
image and likeness of Christ be its token ; may the spirit of crucifixion
with Christ characterise it constantly ; may no evil word be spoken from
this pulpit ; may no unsound doctrine be promulgated here ; with all
simplicity and manliness, and mighty human sympathy, and gentle
manly feeling, and divine inspiration, may Thy servant speak here a
living man to living souls — a dying teacher to scholars who must die.
May no root of bitterness spring up to trouble us ; may the evil speaker
be discouraged ; may the loose tongue be left to utter its folly in
solitude ; may the indifferent be shamed into zeal ; may the prejudiced
be confounded and converted ; and may those who would gladly serve
the Lord and help his cause be honoured and enriched with spiritual
blessing, clothed Avith power, blessed with manifold tokens of Divine
approbation. The God of the sanctuary hear us, the Saviour of the
world draw us to His wondrous cross, the Holy Spirit, last and highest
revelation of Godhead, work mightily in us till our understanding be
\\W of light and our heart be full of love. Amen !

296 THE CITY TEMPLE,

ON THE BIRTH OF CHRIST.

"Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on thiswise: when as his motlier Mary
was espoused to Joseph, before they came togetliei-, she was found with child of
the Holj' Ghost. Then Joseph, her husband, being a just man, and not willing
to make her a public example, was minded to put her away privily.'' —
Matthew ii. 18.

I PAUSE at this i^oint to say that men very often misinterpret their cir-
cnmstanee.s. Joseph does not stand alone so far as the piinciple of this
text is concerned. Men do not know anything as it really is. They
see hut parts and shadows of things — not realities, and essences and
«livinities. There is no man who can interpret his life altogether.
Taking it on its surface, taking it in its angles, taking it in its deptli,
there is a point at whicli he pauses and confesses tliat he can make litth>
or nothing of it. Think of Joseph, the man of the text. He is standing
aside afflicted with a great trouble. A most unexpected and toi'menting
affliction has befallen the man ; the main hope of his life has been ovei--
shadowed, and his chief purposes have been broken oft' and dashed to the
ground, and he is reasoning with himself, " How can this be overcome 1
I wish to be just and yet to be gentle. I would do as I would be done
by ; what is the way out of this difficulty ?" And as he stands at that
point, reasoning so with himself, and multi[)lying the shadows that
gather around his life, I say he does not stand alone so far as the jn-in-
ciple of the controversy which is vexing his soul is concerned. And the
angel of the Lord says to him, " You are wrong from beginning to end.
You only see the shadow, not the light. You see but a little piece here
and there, you cannot put things together and make God's sense of them.
Thou art fearing something. Thou art going to adopt a method of
escape. Thou art endeavouring to find the easiest and best way out of
this difficulty. Man ! It is God that makes this difficulty. It i.s God
that is threading His way through' this crooked path. It is the light
that has enclosed itself in this great shadow."

And in the solution he is not alone, as he was not alone in the diffi-
cnlt}'-. I say it without hesitation, with joy, with a conviction of its
literal truthfulness, that we have all, if we have truly understood life
and made the best of it, received out of our embarrassments, and diffi-
culties, and disappointments, the pvirest and serenest joys that have
gladdened and ruled our souls. I always make a distinction amongst
troubles. I do not gather all men's afflictions together into one mass
and say, "There! they are all for the best." Nothing of the kind.
You must discriminate, separate, classify ; you mu,st go into detail, you
must say, liow did this come, and liow did that come ? You must

ON THE EIRTH OF CHRISiT. 297

interrogate your troiibles up to a given point. And only in ])roportion
as they answer satisfactorily are you to deal with them as the seeds and
gei-ins and propliecios of (iod.

If troubles come upon a man as lie is going along the path of duty,
righteousness and Divine conviction, if troubles come unexpectedly upon
him without his being consciously the cause or occasion of them in any
culpable degree, then these are the shadows out of which God will speak
to him ; these are the fires out of which man will hear the voice of
benediction ; these are the trovibles that shall be turned into. joy. So I
pause again to discriminate distinctly between the man who is always
pulling the house of his life about his own ears, who is never at rest
except when he is pulling something to pieces and doing mischief, and
the man who, having God's law in him, is striving to Ha^o according to
its rhythm, and to exemplify its virtue. The one man shall havi^
trouble upon trouble ; the other, too, shall have trouble ujion trouble, but
his accumulating troubles shall become sources and fountains of joy.

The mariiage of Mary I regard as a very important circumstance in
Christian theology. Jesus Christ was bone of our bone, flesh of our
flesh. He was born as we are born. Begotten by the Holy Ghost,
born of the Virgin ]\Iary. This brings Jesus Christ near to us. When
I am told that that which was conceived in her was of the Holy Ghost,
I am put off to a great distance. I cannot approach that side of the
case. But when I find that Mary was the sister of us all — an ordinary
woman, and that she was Jesus Christ's mothei-, the Saviour comes near
to me, touches me with the hands of a common brotherliood, and speaks
to me, though with sublime and inimitable accent, the same language
which I myself speak. Here, then, is a great mystery wrought by the
Holy Ghost — given to us by the hands of our sister — God, God with us.
Great is the mystery of godliness. Great is the mystery of sin !

Can you, even the most sagacious of parents, say concerning your
little boy, " This boy was born to — ," and then indicate his destiny 'I
Your boy is a puzzle to you — a mystery to you— an unsolved problem.
Even in your most sanguine hours, when you see a beauty in the child
that other eyes cannot detect, even then you can only say, " I hope this
boy will turn out something good." You cannot say more. " I hope he
Avill become a clever man, a wise man, a good man." There you end.
Beyond that you cannot go. Even your aifection hesitates to go beyond
that. But here is a Child with his destiny emblazoned on his forehead.
As a Child, he comes with this declaration, "To save from sins." You
say about a child. He is born to the throne of his country ; he is the
heir apparent, or the heir presumptive. You say about the rich
man's child, he is born to a great fortune, but there is a 2^^^'haps
in all those cases. There is a parenthesis in all these statements, and hi
all such parentheses lies the possibility of failure and ruin. But here i.i

298 THE CITY TEMPLE.

Jesus Christ the child, not developing into a Saviour, liot aftel' many
years turning out into something like a great redeeming life, but a
Child come for this express purpose, and but for this purpose never would
have come at all. Controversialists have not quite got over the birth of
Christ yet ; there are many knotty difficulties lying here which they
cannot disentangle, except upon a strictly Christian basis. They miist
approach these difficulties in a Christian spirit, and solve them to
Christian ends, or they cannot solve them at all. Here is the Child
unborn. The angel says, "This Child 'shall be a son.'" There is a diffi-
culty. Think of that ! The Child is unborn, yet here is an open
declaration that the coming Child shall be a son. And whilst the Child
is iinborn, and whilst he is but a Child, there, at that inceptive point,
he is declared to be a Saviour. A bold s^ieculation ! The Child in the
mother's arms declared to be a Saviour ! Why, we have known children
of godly parents, children of many prayers, turn out to be profane,
licentious, devilish, confounding all speculations regarding ancestry and
probable results of genealogy and training, as if they had reversed all
natural processes and given the lie to all rules — inversions of nature !
It was a dangerous thing, therefore, to say, if not an infinitely true
thing, that any little child should be a Saviour. Reserve your prophecies
until after the event, if you would be wise ! When the man is gone,
then tell us what he was ; but if ye be not prophets of the Lord,
speaking from the very centre of the universe, do not foretell anything,
because Time is swiftly coming after you, aud he will write Mistake,
mistake, lie, falsehood, iipon all words that were not spoken by inspiration
of the Spirit of Truth.

This Child, then, was born with a special mission to sins. He came
into the world to grapple with sin. We preach that all men are born
in sin — that all men are by nature the children of wrath, even as others ;
and we do not preach that as a theological tenet which we have learned
from somebody, but as a heart-dogma that has been wrought into our
very nature by.a bitter and tormenting consciousness. But this Child
was born to grapple with sin from his inflmcy ; He was born to bear a
distinct relation to sin ; every word He spake, every deed He did, was
to relate to si-it. A great destiny, and a very trying thing to say in the
beginning, because if in all these pages we can lay so much as our
finger-tip upon o'/ie instance in which He has swerved from his destiny,
then we can fight a winning battle against Him !

" Now, all this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of
the Lord by the prophet." God lays His hand upon the past of human
history, and upon the future ; it is one story. God does not come into
human history at this point or at that ; He has never been out of it.
The announcements of one age are the men of another. God says, To-
day I will work a wonder in your eyes ; ye shqjl see marvellous things ;

ON THE BIUTII OF CUKiaT. 299

I will l)cat down tho pvoucl tlironc and the great mountain. He says
that, and then leaves us thcro. And a thousand years go by ; the proud
throne is still there, and the great mountain rears its shoulders through
a thousand summers and a thousand winters. Men say, "The word has
been forgotten." But the word is there. It is a factor in human history,
and is working, and will work. It may be in ten thousand years
the word comes tip, and the men of the day say to one another, " All
this is done that it anight bo fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet."
Because true words spoken by child, or woman, or man, or angel, are all
tending towards incarnation, fulfilment, sovereignty, and we do not know
what shall be yet. There are still many unfulfilled predictions, but if
true they will shape themselves into form, and will yet rule the world.
Great events require preparation. God puts a word into a man's heart
to-day, and that words sings to him, speaks comfortably to him, he falls
again and again upon that word. V/lien things are apparently against
him he says, " Yes, but did not God say so and so V and that Avord is to
him as a nightingale in the darkness of his night-life. 0 never did bird
sing so sweetly, so lusciously, so tunefully, so hopefully ! And God is
always carrying His word forward to incarnation, and many a Bethle-
hem He has on the long road of the future. Wonderful is the connection
between the prophecies and the facts, — " This was done that it might be
fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet." God will never let any
true man fail of seeing the reward of his speech, his actions, his suffer-
ings. The prophet, though in heaven, knew that this was a fulfilment of
his Word. The prophets are only behind the screen ; they are just on
the thither side of the veil, and to-day they are seeing the results of their
prophecies, and are being made glad in the Lord's presence. To some of
us it is given to speak a word only, that exhausts our mission. We
desire to see the day of its fulfilment, but cannot do so ; but in as far as
it is a true word its fulfilment shall surely come, and we shall see its
rotxlisation, only from another standpoint. Let us take these things into
account, to cheer us in many bewilderments and perplexities of life. The
father and the mothsr have often pinched themselves, that they might give
their child a little more schooling and a little better opportunity in life,
and have borne their sufferings and their self-denial quietly and even
gladly. They sometimes said, " We should like to see our boy lifting
up his head among yonder band of learned, illustrious, noble men. It
will be a proud day for us when we see our son taking his seat among
them." And they do not see it. They are cut down, they are borne
away into the great darkness ; and their son comes to eminence, and
honour, and exaltation. Their prayers and their services are realised in
him, and he himself says sometimes, "I wish the old man could have
seen me now, it would have repaid him for many a kind word and help-
ful deed. I Avish my mother could have seen me. She would have been

300 THE CITY TEMPLE.

glad. How Iiev eyes would gleam with a holy and di\ine fire ! " ^\'ho
can tell what they see ] There is nothing between us and the invisible
bnt a veil. Who can say that it is not to them who are on yonder side
transparent ? Who can say that we are not victimised by the dullness
of our physical vision '? That they see when we little imagine they are
looking ? I rather incline to the higher side of that speculation, and
delight to believe that all the saints and the angels of God who have ever
taken part in human history are taking some part in it to-day,

Jesus Christ, then, has come into the world. What is our relation to
Him? Some of you will say. We are intending this morning to sit at the
Lord's table to record the Lord's death.* You will be superficial inter-
preters if you imagine that Christ's birth was anything less than his
death. We err, not kilowing the Scriptures, when we separate Christ's
life into little portions, and say in any sense that destroys their unity,
This was His birth, and that was His death. The moment He came
into the world He died ; when He became a child, He became a man of
soiTows and acquainted with grief. Do not sa}^, therefore, that we are
to-day out of our chronology, and that we should be talking before the
sacrament of the Lord's Supper of the death and not of the birth. The
birth was the death, the death was the birth ; the whole incarnation was
the atonement. When He breathed our tainted air He began to die
for the sins of the world. So our chronoloyy is right enough ; are our
hearts rio'ht % The Son of Man came to seek and to save that which was
lost. Has He found us such ? He has found many ; but I want that
poorest, most wretched wanderer of all to be found also ! I want every
little lamb to be gathered into the Saviour's bosom. All you dear little
children, bright jewels, I want you ; and you, stranger, turned in here
this morning, perhaps hardly knowing why, tormented, vexed, distressed,
embarrassed, friendless, far from home, I want yort to make the acquaint-
ance of this Child, this Man-child, this Child-man, this Brother, and
TJplifter of the world. He did not die for a few of us, He tasted death
for every man. He did not in his great heart think of this little
nationality, or that. He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for our
only, but for the sins of the whole world. Yonder Man does not think
of little pieces or of parts of things, when He thinks He thinks eternities,
when He loves He loves entireties. No fraction could ever satisfy His
infi.nite love. Let that be a gospel to your hearts, and let those who
have been hesitating about this gospel drop their little wretched verbal
criticisms and hear this appeal, the appeal that claims the world, whose
love, like a golden band, binds the whole creation in one unbroken
circumference. Let an appeal like that help you towards right decision.
Depend upon it no appeal like that ever could come out of any doctrine
that had not in it the fulness of God's own heart. It is a glorious gospel . '

* The discourse was first preached on a Sacramental occasion.

C|c Citji Ccmjilc.

KepopwT of a Discouhsje deliveeed by

JOSEPH PARKER,

In the Poultry Chapel, on Tiiuksday Mokning, Mauch 24:Tn, 1870.

EVIL COMPACTS.

"Because thou liast joined thyself with Ahaziah, t'.ie Lord hath broken thy
works." — 2 Chron. xx. 37.

These words were spoken concerning Jehosliapliat, wlio " walked in the
way of Asa liis father, and departed not from it, doing thatwliich was
right in the sight of the Lord." He was a man of mature life, being
thirty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned twenty-five
years in Jerusalem, Notwithstanding the ripeness of his experience, and
his really substantial character, lie entered into a shipbuilding speculation
with " Ahaziah King of Israel, who did very wickedly." Jehoshaphat
and Ahaziah was the name of the ro3'al firm of ship-builders. There is,
of course, nothing wrong in shi])-building, yet this firm soon fell into
adversity. The ships were made — tliey were intended to go to Tarshish —
but God broke them in jneces, and gave as His reason the fact that
Jehoshaphat had entered into alliance with a bad partner, — "because
thou hast joined thyself with Ahaziah, the Lord hath broken thy works.''
This is the ancient case which we have to modei-nize. We have partner,
ships, associations, and divers kinds of contracts in our own time, and it
may be well to learn how far God takes notice of our business and our
doings generally, lest we also have our ships broken, and our commerce
laid in ruins.

I have been a good deal puzzled about some partnerships. I have
known some strange associations. For example, I have known a church
officer, who has led the devotions of the church, enter into partnership
with a grovelling man Avho never hesitated to use profane language in
the warehouse. I have known a generous supporter of good institutions
associated with a man who would have sold his own i'ather if he cduld
have made money by the transaction. This has been a puzzle to m^,
because I have not known how two could walk together except they were
agreed, a)id because I have gone upon the principle that light could have

302 THE CITY TEMPLE,

no communion |witli darkness. I dare say there are explanations of the
difficulty. It may be very convenient to liave a partner who can make
promises which he never intends to fulfil ; it may smooth some parts of
the commercial path to have an associate who can tell lies ; it may be
profitable to have an ally who can stoop to jiick money out of the gutter,
and who can wriggle round awkward corners, and use words which admit
of two different constructions. All this, I can see, may be very convenient
and profitable^ but how about the righteousness of it 1 How does it look
in the light of the sanctuary 1 Is it honest, true, lovely, pure 1 Of
couise it will be said that business is bvisiuess, and religion is religion,
that there is a distinction between the merchant and tlie man. Very
well. Let us, merely for the sake of getting on, admit that, there remains
this question : when the merchant is dammed for his wicked deeds, where
will the man go 1 I am not aware that a man can serve the devil with
one hand and God with the other. Where is the evidence that a man
may have two characters, as he may have two coats 1 The principle of ill-
associated partnerships wm-ks in two ways : the professing Christian
finds it convenient to be able to remit all questionable work to the man
who has made away with his conscience and honour, and the said man
finds it very satisfactory to point to his professing partner as a proof and
pledge that all is straightforward and upright. But is this as it ought to
be 1 Do not let us slur over the question ; let us face it steadily,
honestly — with earnest intent to know the right and wrong of the case.
You may say, that as partners you do not know each other except in
a purely business light ; you are strangei's until you meet in business ;
you have no two pursuits in common ; your tastes are marked by the
strongest differences. Allow me to suggest that this explanation does
not touch the point. A man cannot leave his cliaracter at home when
he goes to business. The character is the man himself; he cannot leave
/iimse//" behind. I am not talking about this particular taste or that; I
am not speaking of some trifling eccentricity of habit, but about the
quality, so to speak, of the man's very soul and life ; and I repeat, it does
puzzle me exceedingly to understand how light and darkness, right and
wrong, heaven and hell, can enter into business relations.

I do not know that I have much chance of making a deep impression
upon the old with regard to this great principle of identification and
co-operation in business, but the young should take this lesson thoroughly
to heart. You have your associations yet to form, you have to lay out
your life to the best advantage, and it is more than possible that you may
be tempted by the dazzling prospects which disingenuous men will not
fail to paint for you. Explanations of difficulty will certainly be forth-
coming; your conscientious scruples will be contemptuously pooh-
poohed. You will be told that in these times men must set their sails
according to the wind, and must do as other people do, if they would

EVIL COMPACTS. 303

save themselves from bankruptcy and ruin in general. I hold up the
example of Jehosaphat as a warning to you. There is something of
infinitely greater consequence in the world than making a fortune.
What you have to settle first and foremost is, the moral basis on which
you are proceeding ; you must get the full consent of your judgment, and
heart, and conscience, before you give yourself up to any commercial
course, and, having obtained such consent, according to the law of infinite
righteousness, it should be a matter of very small moment to you whether
you reach what is known in the world as the point of success, or whether
you see little or nothing by way of resiilt of your labour. , Believe me,
wealth is not everything ; nay, more— a man's wealth may actually be
a man's worst poverty. The curse of God rests upon all ill-gotten wealth.
You may say that your part of the business is done with uprightness,
and with an honest desire to keep the whole law of equity as between
man and man, but this explanation is worse than a frivolous excuse
when it is ofiered as a plea for bad partnerships. Tou are responsible
for more than yourself in such a case ; so long as you are identified with
a man who can speak an untrue word or do a mean deed, you must of
necessity be implicated in the whole of his vicious course. Beware of
making refined distinctions. It is one thing to have a Jgenius for
drawing delicate lines as between yourself and your partner, and another
to convince Him who sees the heart and tines the reins of the children
of men, that you are not making a convenience of such distinctions, and
gtlding the works of unrighteousness. Look at the ship-building
speculation at Ezion-gaber. The partuers were men of immense resources,
of the lughest social position; their ships were actually built and prepared
for the voyage, but God determined that they should never reach their
destination ; and when God commands the winds and the general forces
of nature to beat against any man's speculation, it is utterly hopeless
in such cases to fight against God. Have God for your partner, if you
would make your business, in the highest sense of the term, honourable
and successful. '•' If God be for us, who can be against us 1"

The principle of the text is expansive enough to include other subjects
of equal importance with that which has just been discussed. For
example, the subject of Marriage is fairly within the scope of its appli-
cation. "How can two walk together except they be not agreed]'
<'What communion hath Christ with Belial?" I need not pause to say
that much of the happiness of human life depends upon the marriage
unions which are formed. It is one thing to view the subject of
marriage in the light of passion or convenience, and another to regard it
as an institution by which human life may be developed and trained to
the highest uses and enjoyments. I do not hesitate to lay down the
broad principle that where there is incongruity of religious conviction

304 THE CITY TEMPLE.

between man and woman, happiness of the deepest and purest kind is
entirely out of the question. This principle is impartial in its application
having equal reference to the woman as to the man, and to the man as
to tlie woman. Take the case of a young woman who has deep religious
convictions and sympathies : she has been trained under religious in-
fluences, her habits have been identified with the sanctuary from very
early life; she has taught in the school, she has served in connection with
many agencies of the church, and altogether her name has become
honourably associated witli benevolent operations ; she is sought in
marriage by a young man who has no religious convictions or sympathies,
who, in fact, is worldly minded, grovelling, earthly ; he may, indeed, be
a nuin of education, of Jitevary velinement, of good social position, of
captivating address ; nay, more — I will go further, and say, he may be a
man against whom society is unable justly to point the finger of reproach.
Wherever he is known he is respected for many social excellencies.
Viewed in a strictly worldly sense, the young man may be pronounced
an eligible candidate for the lady's hand, yet, in the presence of such con-
ditions, I have distinctly to give it as my opinion that happiness of the
liighest kind is impossible in sucli a connection. There must, on the
woman's part, be more or less of sacrifice of the convictions and sympathies
which have distinguished her whole life. Her religious emphasis will be
modified; more or less of a chill will subdue her Christian zeal; her
works of benevolence will be in some degree impaired ; there may not be
any great outward difference in her manner, but her soul must have felt
the desolation of an impovei-ishing influence. We have to consider, not
what she is, so much as what she might have been, had she been united in
marriage to one of kindred sympathy. To wliat an intense glow of love
would her religious fervour have been increased ! With what accelerated
rapidity she might have moved in the ways of godliness! There would
have been no secret force drawing her heart in the wrong direction ; the
whole atmosphere in which she lived would have been favourable to the
develo])ment of Christian graces, and she would have abounded in all
holy fruitfiilness as the follower and sei'vant of Jesus Christ. I will not
dwell upon cases in which there is direct opposition as between husband
and wife on religious questions ; I prefer to take an instance in which
the woman is a decided Christian in her convictions and habits, and
Avhere the man is accounted respectable in a worldly sense. Thei^e may
never be a harsh word spoken on his part, he may never oppose any of
his wife's inclinations, yet, by his own indifterence, by his self-enjoyment,
by his absence from her companionship when she is seeking the culture
of her highest nature, he is, in reality, encountering her with a veiy
dreadful hostility. May I not pause hei'e to impress upon the young
who have yet to form their social relationships the necessity of
their being at one with each other upon all vitall}' important ques-

EVIL COMPACTS. 305

tions, if they would really bo, not outwardly, but inwardly, sincerely,
enduringly happy. You are ntit to look at physical beauty, at social
position, or at personal charms, strictly in themselves considered ;
all these have their place, and an important place it undoubtedly is ;
but under all these considerations there lies the great question, What
about the heart ? Believe me, if the heart is not right, if the supreme
affection be not divine, the whole life will be one continuously down-
ward course, ending in mortification, disgust, and ruin. We know
the ordinary excuse that is made when the Christian marries one
who has no devotional sympathies : the generous, hopeful, self-
sacrificing woman openly avows her belief that in a very little time she
will be able to bring her intended husband to a right decision ; she knows
(poor cx-eature !) that there is something] good in him ; she has heard
(O mocking ear !) him say words whicli she construed into a noble inten-
tion on his part; she is sure all will be right by-and-by; a little patience,
a little humouring, and a little instruction— then all will be right! This
is the dream of her love, the inspiration of her ill-directed hope. Don't
account me cruel when I denounce it as an imposition — a deceit — a lie !
Let me grant, that in one case out of a thousand, events do prove better than
expected; we have not to be governed by exceptions, but l)y principles ;
we must get away from the accl(l(Mital to the essential ; and so long as
right is right, we are bound to stand by it, how painful soever, how tor-
menting or destructive soever, tlie consecpxences. " Be ye not unequally
yoked together with unbelievers : for what fellowship hath righteousness
with unrighteousness ? and what communion hath light with darkness 1
and what concord hath Clirist with Belial 1 or Avhat })art hath he that
believeth with an infidel V " Because of these things coraeth the wrath
of God upon the children of disobedience." " Ye cannot drink the cup of
the Lord and the cup of devils." '■ Ye cannot serve God and Mammon."

The principle of the text will still further permit us to say an earnest
word about evil companionship generally. " My son, if sinners entice
thee, consent thou not. If they say. Come with us, let us lay wait for blood,
let us lurk j^vily for the innocent without cause ; let us swallow them
up alive as the grave, and whole as those who go down into the pit : we
shall find all precious substance, we shall fill our houses with spoil :
cast in thy lot amongst us ; let us all have one purse : my son, walk not
thou in the way with them ; refrain tliy foot from tlieir path ; for their
feet run to evil, and make haste to shed blood." I am not prepared to
deny that amongst worldly men there may be many flattering and alluring
attractions which work mightily iqjon the imagination and affections oi
the young. The devil can come to a man in many disguises. He does
not always come, so to speak, as the devil pure and simple, but often
brings with him a robe of light, and adapts himself to the condition,

306 THE CITY TEMPLE.

pursuits, and tastes of his intended victim. I will not suppose that any-
young man who now heai's me is jirepared to identify himself with the
public drunkard, swearer, or thief ; of course, no young man is prepared
to go to such lengths at once ; but the point to be insisted on is this, that
if the moral tone of the party seeking your companionship be not right,
there must of necessity be a descent into depth after depth of moral
degradation. I am aware that you will tell me of your intention to tui'n
back when you feel that you are going too far. This is a fool's decision.
You forget that every step you take on the wrong road involves on your
part a loss of power to reti-ace your way. The man is not the same man
after he has gone a mile on the devil's highway. He has lost force ; he has
gone down in the volume and quality of his manhood ; and when he
thinks that it is now time to turn round and come back, he will find
that his way has been hedged up behind him, and that in all probability
there is no way of escape. " Blessed is the man that walketh not in the
counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in
the seat of the scornful." It is possible, as in the case just supposed,
that some of you may be pei'suading yourselves that though your com-
panions be not all that you could wish them, yet you are exerting upon
them a recovei-ing influence. I do not wish to speak discouragingly, yet
I must speak warningly upon this point. I dare not say that your
influence upon your companions is not for their advantage ; neither dare
I flatter myself by the inference that they are not exerting upon you a
deep and deadly, though a remote and subtle influence. Where one good
young man succeeds in recovering an evil companion, I hesitate not to
say that many young men succumb to the treacherous influences which
are brought to bear upon them by vicious associates. It is not necessary
to be the bosom companion of a man who is evil-minded in order to save
him ; you are rather to stand at a distance and to speak from an eleva-
tion ; you are not to descend to the same moral level with him ; you
may be found in his society, yet you may be sepax-ate from him, as Jesus
Christ himself was " separate from sinners." Your laugh at an indecent
joke may be a sanction to foul thoughts ; your silence in the hearing of
profane language may give some countenance to evil-speaking ; your
wawt of heroism may be regarded as an encouragement by those who
have set themselves to do mischief. Even those who are related to you
bj'- nature are to be avoided, when they would invite you towards evil.
There is a higher relationship than that of mere blood ; even were your
own father to tempt you to do that which is unrighteousness, you are to
resist him, and flee from him as an enemy. " If thy brother, the son of
thy mother, or thy son or thy daughter, or the wife of thy bosom, or thy
friend which is as thine own soul, entice thee secretly, saying. Let us go
and serve other gods which thou hast not known, thou nor thy fathers,
namely, of the gods of the people which are roiind about you, nigh unto

EVIL COMPACTS 307

tliee, or far off from thee from the one end of the earth even unto the
other end of the earth, thou shalt not consent unto him, neither shall
thine eye pity him, neither shalt thou spare, neither shalt thou conceal
him." You see from these words, and from others that might be quoted
bearing in the same direction, that the position of the Christian is to be
one of the utmost distinctness. " Have no fellowship with the unfruitful
works of darkness, but rather reprove them." Yes, this is the difficulty
which every young Christian has to encounter at the very outset of his
career, and throughout the whole of his Christian service and testimony
He is not only to avoid the appearance of evil himself, but he is to lift up
his voice against those who serve the devil. He is called to be a witness
for the truth ; he is to lift up his voice, and to say distinctly what
is wrong and what is right, and to fight the battles of the Lord
against the mighty. He is not only then to abstain from evil companion-
ships and confederacies ; much more is required. It is needful that the
man should distinctly define his Christian ground, and should constantly
utter a testimony against all unrighteousness, and in favour of the thing's
that are true and pure, honest and lovely.

We have a great lesson before us this day ; he that hath ears to hear
let him hear ! ^' Though hand join in hand, the wicked shall not be
unpunished." Men cannot confederate themselves against God and
succeed. We may imagine that by gathering ourselves together in great
numbers, by taking counsel one of another, and by some system of
unanimous co-operation, we may be able to set ourselves successfully
against the Divine government, but God challenges the nations of the
earth, and contemptuously defies them. " Associate yourselves, O ye
people, and ye shall be broken in pieces : and give ear, all ye of far
countries : gird yourselves, and ye shall be broken in pieces." I need
not recall the instance in which " the whole earth was of one language
and of one speech," and in which men set themselves to do great things
by way of protecting their interests from supernatural interposition ;
you remember that they caiuied their tower to a certain height, and that
God came down and scattered it, and confounded their speech, and made
them so that they could not understand one another. He will surely
do this again if we combine to oppose His way. All our commercial
partnerships will be examined ; all our social relationships will ba sub-
jected to inexoi-able judgment ; all our companionships will be sifted by
the Divine visitation ; none shall be able to stay the wrath of God, when
He comes to judge the earth by the light of His infinite and incorruptible
holiness. Better stand alone than be found in the association of evil
men. Better never hear a friendly voice than be allured by the deceits
of evil men ! Better be found in unpitied loneliness, yet with a con-
science void of offence, than lift up our heads amongst the most influential
and illustrious servants of the devil.

308 THE CITY TEMPLE.

CIjc IJrtijjcr.

Almighty Gou, mercifully save us from the counsels and devices of
\vicked men : they lie in wait to deceive ns, and to turn our profession
of righteousness into an instrument of evil, but Thou canst enable us to
discover their intent and bring discomfiture and humiliation upon them.
Save us, we humbly beseech Thee, when propositions of gain are made
to ns by such men as Ahaziah, the wicked king of Israel. May we be
saved from all morally incongruous partnerships, how profitable soever
they may appear to be : help us in all such things mightily to resist the
devil. Help ns to feel the blessedness of bearing a distinct testimony on
behalf of truth ; and if we are called to suffer for it, may we surely know
the enduring riches of an honourable poverty. May the meditation of
the morning be turned to good account by the young who have put
their trust in Thee. Help them to cut off the right hand and to pluck
out the right eye rather than bring discredit npon the name of the
Holy Saviour. If they have thoughtlessly entered into relations which
are condemned by Thy word, give them such strength and grace as will
enable them, in the right spirit and the light manner, fo put away from
them all evil things. May the spirit of crucifixion be magnified even to
rapture and triumph in their souls, and by the power of the One blessed
Cross may they beat down the forces that would work their destruction.
Teach us all the divine meaning of suffering ; show ns that our loss is our
o-ain if we endure it for Christ's sake ; reveal the glory that gathers
around the head of e-very cross which is borne in the Spirit of the Son
of God. O Son of God, Child of the Virgin, coming to us in a strange
loneliness, vet accom})anied by singing angels, teach us that all loneliness
which is brought upon us by love of things pure, and noble, and lovely,
will be succeeded by the blessed companionship and perfect joy of heaven.
Blessed Son of the Eternal Father ! as Thou wast separate from sinners,
so may Thy folktwers be ; not in Pharisaical self-love and self-honour,
but in all meekness, quietness, and charity. Deepen our dista.ste for
thin-^s that are merely earthly ; refine our affections, and gather them as
undivided homage offered to Thyself. Teach us as Thou wilt. Break
our ships in pieces ; send a whirlwind to smite the four corners of our
banquetting halls ; kindle a fire in our palaces ; send a plague upon our
flocks and a blight upon our fields ; do these things, if Thou so pleasest,
only save our souls, and take not Thy Holy Sjnrit from us ! Let the
Father hear us, let the Son show Himself mighty on our behalf, let the
Holy Ghost baptise us with fire. Amen.

Report of a Discourse delivered by

JOSEPH PAEKEE,

In the Poultry Chapel, ox Thursday Morning, March 31st, 1870,

Almighty God, because Tliou art full of love we arc full of hope ;
because Thou despisest no man, therefore are we sure Thou wilt look
upon us with tender i-egard. When there was no eye to jiity, and no
arm to save, Thine own eye pitied, and Thine own arm brought salvation ;
Thou didst look, and there was no man, there was none to redeem, and
behold, Thou didst come in the person of Thy Son, miglity to save, and
Thou didst tread the winepress alone, and make sacrifice for sin ; the
Priest himself became the victim, and by the l)lood of Jesus Christ Thy
Son we are cleansed from all iniquity. Our heart is touched when we
read what Jesus did to poor, lonely, helpless men, when we hear Him
speak so comfortingly and healingly and hopefully to poor lost womeu,
and such as have no friends, our heart cries out, " My Lord and my
God." Herein is love ; we know it to be love, and our heart is moved
towards it in loyal homage, in devout and passionate reverence, for never
man spake or worked like this Man. Here are lonely ones before Thee ;
friendless, strangers in the crowd, alone in the thronged city ; no voice
speaking to them, either historically or hopefully ; no eye brightening
when they appear, no heart accelerated wlicn their voice is heard ; lonely
and sad, as if the world did not want them ; baffled, disappointed, as
though they were in the way, and every soul was opposed to their
welfare : may such loneliness not lead to despair, but rather excite in
the heart wonderings and desires after Him who never jiassed a lone
man or a sorrowing woman without speaking the woi'd of hope, and
drying the fountain of tears. Blessed Saviour, be our companion, and

28

310 THE CITY TEMPLE.

we shall never be lonely ; break our bread for us, and we shall never
want ; go with us through all the way of the wilderness, and we shall
find manna and water every day. Jesus found us when no heart cared
for us. His heart burst with love over our lost estate, and by the
shedding of His blood did He open up our way to reconciliation and
I)eace with God. We hail Him our .Redeemer, and King, and Lord ; we
would offer Him all that our heart can conceive. "We Avould add all
the jewels of the universe to the crown which is upon His head ; we
would serve Him constantly with evei*-inci-easing capacity, and ever-
deepening delight. Blessed Saviour, never leave us. Come to us in the
darkness, and juake all things light round about us ; come to us in our
affliction, and interpret to us the meaning of pain, and weakness, and
death ; come to vis in our prosperity, and give us the light which is
above the brightness of the sun, and help us, remembering what we have
received from Thee, to give unto Thee iu return the undivided service of
our thankful heart. May Ave tell Jew and Gentile who it was that saved
us, and that found us wandering and brought us home, and may our
speech be with emphasis, with all force and clearness and power, that
none may be able to mistake our testimony. May Thy Church put on
her strength, and speak the praises of her Lord in loud and persuasive
tones ; may Jerusalem put on her beautiful garments, and proclaim
herself the king's daughter. Let Thy people's heart be drawn out
towards the Saviour to day ; may many see Him as they have never
seen Him before, feel Him touching the very depths of their nature,
answering the most tormenting pi-oblems of their life, and shedding
upon them the only light which pierces the grave, and touches the land
beyond. As for the thoughtless and the vain, those Avho are their own
idols and their own gods, if it be possible, let Thy grace touch and
recover them. They have contemptiiously treated eighteen hundred
years of Christian history ; they have set Thy book at naught ; they
have practically given the lie to Thy ministry, and to Thy Church, and
they have openly served the devil, and secretly offered incense on
forbidden altars. If it be yet possible, ere the sun set, that such rocks
should be broken into penitential tears, Loi'd, let it be so even noAv.
We ask it all in the name of Jesus, without which all other names would
haA'e no meaning and no blessiner for us. Amen.

ON LONELINESS. 311

o

ON LONELINESS.

" I have no man, wliea the water is troubled, to put me into the pool ; but
while I am coming another steppeth down before me. — John v. 7.

A HUMAN being reduced to a state of helplessness ! Take a man at bis
full estate, wben bis system is bealtby, wben bis word is law to tbose
wbo are about bim, wben a call will bring servants and friends, and one
would regard it as impossible tbat sucb a man would be I'educed to tbe
state of belplessness described in tbe text. Yet look at tbe impoverisbing
and witbering process. First of all, tbere is a bligbt upon bis business,
and bis tbousands are reduced to hundreds ; then the great bouse is given
up, and tbe proud bead stoops under tbe bumble roof. Presently, afflic-
tion strikes down wife and child, and tbe air becomes too cold even for
the oldest friend. Tbe next blow is at the man's own health ; paralysis
withers the limbs once so strong, and tbe hand which was once the sign
of authority droops in pitiful weakness ; the voice has now no meaning
in. it to anybody, its law and force are forgotten. There lies the man in
pain, in weakness, quite alone, uncared for, lover and friend gone, and
no counsellor at hand. There are hundreds of such men to be found in
England to-day ; or if there be any difference in the literal circumstances,
tbere may be other considerations which still more deeply embitter the
lot of wretchedness. A ma,n without a man ! a man left quite to him-
self. Such is tbe man in tbe text ; he is alone in the crowd ; the eye
sees him, but has no pity icr bim ; his unavailing struggles only add
torture to his pain.

Tbere is really a good deal of this kind of thing in society, a good deal
of loneliness, helplessness, iinsuccessful effort, and blighted hope. Oh,
those unsuccessful efforts, how they tear the heart light open, or heap
upon it burdens which are too heavy ! The bravest will is battered
down by them. A resolute and good-hearted girl, reading what some
great women have done with their pens, sets secretly to work upon poem
or song, tbe price of which is to give her a measure of independence, or
is to relieve tbe pressure upon other members of the family ; she wi-ites
till her ill-afforded candle expires, and writes again in tbe greyest light
of tbe cold morning ; the lines please her, her fancy sees many a beauty
in them, and tbe aching of her heart pauses under the exhilaration of a
proud and thankful hope. Then comes the day of trembling expectation ;
tbe manuscript is in tbe bands of a publisher, and all depends upon bis

31-2 THE CITY TEMPLK.

criticism ; the mornings come very slowly ; she can hardly sleep, and,
■when she does sleep, her dreams are of her book. At last the answer
comes ; she hastens to some secret place to read it, and the scalding
tears blind her when she reads that her manuscript is " declined with
, thanks ; " while she was coming, another stepped down before her. At
that moment, the sun cannot give her light : she feels a strange darkness
settling over her whole life. In various ways, we have had similar
experiences. There are young men before me who have traversed our
city streets,

" Begging a brother of the earth
To give them leave to toil,"

until they have fainted with weariness and hunger ; mile on mile they
have wandered, till they thought all men had conspired to slay them, and
all the natural brightness of young life had died away ; at last they feel
ashamed of being seen. They have feared to meet any one who would
ask them of their success, for they had nothing but the old chilling
answer. A poor creature came to me the other day with a tale of
bitterness. She had come to London to seek employment, but nothing
came of all her labour. She seemed always to be too soon or too late ;
at all events, no door opened to admit her even to a chance of getting
her daily bread. She said, " I have walked the streets for two nights,
and where to go to I really don't know." There was no professional
tone in her voice ; she was not a trained beggar — she was an honest, but
poor and suffering creature, who gave a sti-aightforward and veritable
account of herself, wliich I had every means of testing. Lonely — oh, so

■ lonely — yet within sight of tlie healing pools ! Most of us know what
tliis means, for some form or other of the unhappy experience has
befallen us in the working out of our life. We sometimes make merry
with recollections of this sort now that Ave are strong, yet the gash upon
the young heart is not quite overgrown ; we can still find it, and happy
are we when oiir very failures have disclosed to us the purposes of love
which God was working out. Those failures sti-ained us much at the
time ; they went far towards souring our temper for ever, but we wei'e
saved from that ill fate.

We have come to see how long waiting at the edge of the pool has
wrouglit in us a lingering and hopeful patience towards other sufferers,
and we have leai-ned to be more clement in our judgment of those whose
eager haste for self-recovery made them apparently ci-uel to feeblei" men.
Many a time, just when we were upon the point of success, a rival has
overmatched lis, and left us to suffer and pine by the pool-side.

Tliis reminds us, that according to the text there is not only much

helplessness, but much selfishness in the world. Every man has a case of

ON LONELINESS. 313

bis own, which is right enough ; the point of selfishness is, that many-
men having been cui^ed, have foi'gotteH that their cure binds them in
God's law of love to see that other sufferers are aided in their attempts
at recovery. Of all who had been cured at the pool not one remained to
give this man the benefit of his strength. What a world this would be
without social beneficence — that is, without one man finding joy in
helping another ! Selfishness makes the world a very little place ; a very )
cold, fruitless, gloomy corner. It may appear to be a very grand thing
to write one's own name everywhere as owner and lord, but if the name
be not written on recovered and thankful human hearts, it will soon be
rubbed out and forgotten. Love is the only ink which does not fade ; i
love is the only memoiy which strengthens with time ; love is the bond
which never corrodes. We have only so much as we have given ; by so
much as we have helped other people we have laid up reserves of strength
which will give us mastery and honoitr in time to come. I am thankful
to be addressing a benevolent people, and I gladly bear record how many •
poor sufi'erers some of you liave helj^ed to the healing pool ; their names
are all written, and so are yours, and there is coming a day of very glad
memory. You have had part of the compensation already, and you
know how sweet it is. When you have taken a child off" the streets, and
given it food and clothing, and shelter from the harsh wind, you did not
want gold and silver as a reward. God put it into your hearts instantly,
as if in haste to show His approval, such a warmth of holy gladness as .
lifted you quite out of common worldly influences, and you wished you
could be always giving. It will be a joy to my heart for ever that, as a
boy, I was seldom allowed to sit down to my own Sunday dinner until
I carried a portion to some sick man or poor woman ; and that walk
upon mercy's errand gave us all greater enjoyment of what was left,
doubled it, made it sweeter to the taste, for it seemed as if Jesus Him- ,
self broke the bread. No doubt it is a selfish world, yet, on the other
hand, there is a good deal of genuine kindiiess among men, and it is
well to think of this. There is very much benevolence among the rich, |
and there is also very much benevolence among the poor ; to the poor
many cups of cold water are given, and many a mite is secretly put into
the empty hand. As a general rule the complaining man is not the rf
most deserving man, nor is destitution always to be measured by out-
ward signs of distress ; there are some who cover their sorrow with
laughter, and talk so hopefully that they are never suspected of want.
And, on the other hand, there is a way of doing a kindness which looks
as if no kindness had been done, a gentle and delicate way which
adds preciousness to the gift. I have known some men do a kindness
as if they were receiving it rather than giving it, so that the poor were

314 THE CITY TEMPLE.

not made to feel their povei'ty. This was Jesus Christ's method, and it
will be ours as we approach His likeness. We need not look long for
opporturdties of helping suffering men into the pool of healing ; every
daj is rich with such opportunities to the man whose eyes combine with
the penetration of shrewdness the benignity of comjjassion.

This reminds us that Jesus Christ ever, as in the text, went about
doing good ; not waiting for the lost, but seeking them ; not standing
still, but going after it until it was found. Sometimes Jesus Christ's
help was besought, sometimes it was offered, but whether this way
or that, Jesus Christ spent no idle hours. The stream of His most
merciful help poured from an inexhaustible fountain, and no poor,
broken-hearted suppliant was ever excluded from the healing waters.
This case illustrates His compassionate method. To whom does He
address Himself 1 To the loneliest and most helpless of men ! Truly
might that man say, " When there was no eye to pity, and when there
was no arm to save. Thine own eye pitied, and Thine own arm brought
salvation." The same field of philanthropic service lies before us all ;
what if we should all resolve that every day we should make a point of
assisting one man towards the pool of healing 1 A boy said some time
since, as he was writing in a diary which the fancy of a moment had
led him to buy, " Keeping a diary might change a man's life ;" and
when we asked him how it could do so, he replied, " Eecause at night,
when he came to write in it, he would say to himself. What have I
done to-day 1 A.nd if he hadn't done anything, he might go out and do
something. " Ifc was a child's notion, but there is a man's wisdom in it.
We may not keep diaries, but a diary is kept for each of us, and day by
day entry is made according to our industry or idleness. How many
blanks are there in the diary ! Are there many entries of healing
or few ? The Christian method of service compels men to go out and
seek opportunities of doing good ; and to every man Jesus Christ says,
" When thou art converted strengthen thy brethren ; " being healed
thyself, help others to the place of recovery. It is an infallible sign
that a man has not undergone Christian healing if he have no care
about healing others ; it is only an external cure, some poor patch-
work of morality which fear of the law may have wrought upon him,
not the divinely vitalised energy which warms and stirs the heart
with all the impulses of far-i'eaching charity. The philanthropy of
morality goes at the biding 'of conscience, but the philanthi-opy of
the Cross goes at the bidding of love. You know the difference of the
two biddings ? Conscience never yet developed a grand nature ; it has
striven with much urgent importunity and many a pricking smaii; to

ON LONELINESS. 315

keep men erect and honest, but it has never wrought in them any ovei*-
flow of good nature, and fruitfulness of generous service. Christianity
never lulls the conscience, yet never seems to expect miich from it • its
chief hope is in Christianised human love. Conscience has but a limited
sway ; love has empire over the whole man. Conscience will use its
plumb and square, and Avith sharp-pointed compasses will describe the
range of duty, but love will wreathe every straight line with flowers and
to the majesty of rectitude will add all the graces and delights of beauty.
Conscience is as the watchman who travels round his beat at ni^ht
time ; enough for him that gates and doors are closed, and that bolts and
bars are all in their places ; but love is as the friend who watches by the
sleepless pillow of sickness, and with many a kind touch smoothes the
hard way of the sufferer. Through all Christian service tlie same prin-
ciple holds good ; conscience may tell a man what to do, but by an almost
omnipotent constraint love makes him do it. You will find love at the
pool-side, offering to help the poorest sufferer step iuto the healinw
water ; and long after conscience is satisfied love will add somethinor to
a day's work, which has far exceeded the twelve hours of the hirelino-.
Oh ! those wretched calculating hii-elings, who pinch their work up to the
point of dishonesty ! The men who make nothing but technical rules can-
not be honest out-and-out ; and they will never make life very successful.

People who are so clever at making rules for saving themselves, gene-
rally, and most deservedly, make fools of themselves by their very clever-
ness. No ; throughout life, in religion, business, government, and every-
thing else, we cannot shut up human service within rules and bye-laws •
there must be grace above law, else alas for the poor lone man who has
no one to help him to the pool !

This brings me to say that the lost man's hope is in Jesus Christ. He
who saA^es the sufferer at Bethesda must save all other dying men. It is
the glory of Jesus Christ that He saves when others give uj) in despair.
He seeks the losL When a man feels that the last human hope has o'one
out, and left his sky without streak or glimmer of light, Jesus Christ
will come through all the darkness, and make it glow with the bri^^ht-
ness of morning. But not till then. So long as man puts his hope in
men, Jesus Christ stands ofi"; but as soon as the dying eye turns towards
Him all His heart opens in one great offering of life. This is the Gospel
which we have to preach ; can you wonder that now and again we are
carried away in a perfect ecstasy of joy ? We have felt the sad loneliness
and helplessness of sin, and none can tell what gladness was wrought in
our hearts when Jesus Christ first spoke to us. There was a tone in
His voice which was wanting in all others, a persuasive kindness which
quite won us back to hope. Men could not help us ; but this Man said

316 THE CITY TEMPLE.

lie could find for us the piece that was lost, and could add all heaven to
it. We remember how glad His Word made us, how we rose, and walked,
and leaped, and entered into the temple, praising Him with a loud voice ;
. and as the memory comes back, we can hardly keep down the song of
love and blessing. It is this memory that will give us thorough con-
gregational singing. When the heart is cold, when the old loving
memories have died out of it, and we come up to the house of God
merely in the performance of a decent ceremony, no wonder that we
drone and mumble lest persons in the next pew should hear us. Such
sino-ing is horribly unnatui'al : it amounts to insidt when regarded as an
offering to God. But when the heart is alive, when we recollect what
Jesus has done for us, when love tunes our lips, then we could drown
the storms of the sea with our rapturous yet chastened and harmonious
praise. There is no praise like that which is given to Jesus Christ ; it
comes from the innermost chords of the heart, and is lifted up by grate-
ful, immortal love. Think what joy will fill that crushed and suffering
heart of His when all whom He saved shall be gathered into one vast
company ! Innumerable throng ! Every man of the infinite host
having his own special reason for heightening the sublime ecstatic
melody. Surely in that hour all the horrors of Gethsemane, and all
the anguish of Calvary will be forgotten in the splendour and security
of a perfected redemption.

So our text has two sides — one dark, the other bright. On the one
side we see what sin would bring us to, what loneliness, helplessness, and

- extremity of suffering ; on the other we see whence comes the light of
hope and the hand of unfailing power. As the poor man at Bethesda
was anxious for salvation, as Jesus spoke to that poor man, so He
speaks to every one of us ; and now is the solemn hour in which we
may return answer to Christ's entreating love. Now are we without
excuse. Jesus himself will testify against us if we complain of help-

' lessness. His arm is our arm ; his resources are ours ; his divinity is
our sun and shield. Don't throw from you this word of hoiye ; hide it in

. your troubled hearts ; listen to it when the world is gloomy and silent,
and even though cast down you shall be saved by the One Saviour of
helpless men. I charge you to hope in Christ !

C|c €xt^ Cemplc.

A Discourse delivered by

JOSEPH PAEKEE,

In the Poultky CiiArEL, on Thursday Morning, April 7th, 187

ON rOSTHUMOUS INFLUENCE.

" Moreover, I will omlcavour tliat ye may be able, after my decease, to have these
«i: things always in remembrance." — 2 Peter i. 15.

The voice is the voice of a veteran. There is none of the silver of
youthful music in it. It is round, rich, ripe, mellow ; the very tones
seem (if the suggestion may be allowed) to have upon them the russet of
advanced autumn. There is history in this voice. Gone years, with
their manifold and affluent experiences, their struggles against Satanic
force, and their triumphs through Divine strength, repeat themselves in
this rugged and penetrating eloquence. In this respect, then, ours is a
high privilege. The young man, in the passion incident to inexperience,
says, not without a dash of irreverence and flippancy, that he can soon
run up the gamut of an old man's sober strain. Not so with the veteran
before us. Some j)ersons are born old ; they are withered and desiccated
from the womb. Others are ever young ; winter snows their head, but
sends no breath of frost to their warm blood ; they go back to God
beautiful in renewed you.th, strong in increasing power. Such a man
was the writer of this text. His heart beat like a hero's ; the fire of
enthusiasm shone in his eye. Bravely, with a conquerors port, he says,
" / ivill endeavour.'^ That word " endeavour " charms and iuspii-es me.
It is beautiful in humility ; it is majestic in strength ; it combines
calmness and resolution ; it is a cliild's word, and yet a king's. The
old man is not content with what he has done ; valorously he says he
will try to do more. There is none of the natural indolence too often
incident to old age ; there is no moan, no wail, no sigh. Though between
him and his death there is only a "shortly," as "the Lord Jesus hath
showed" him, yet he says " I will endeavour; I will contrive; I will put
both hands out ; notliing shall be wanting on my part ; I will Avork

21)

318 THE CITY TEMPLE.

down to the very last moment of my life, tliat ye may be able, after my
decease, to have these things always in remembrance."

Such are the circumstances ; what is the subject ■? The subject is
posthumous influence — man conquering death, mind ruling when the
exhausted flesh is perishing in a forgotten grave.

1. In calling attention to this multitudinous theme — multitudinoi;is
in its principles and applications — I have to affirm, first of all, that a
sublime influence after death is the result of a sublimely conducted life.
The earnest "endeavour" is the cause of the eflective "remembrance."
INIany covet the influence who are impatient of the long and disciplinary
" endeavour." The two must for ever be rmited. Can the pawpar
bequeath large estates to posterity % Can the man whose brain has been
permitted to lie like an uncultivated waste rule the thinking, or mould
the course of generations yet to be born % You have no answer but a
scornful No, and your answer is right. Learn, then, that the interpre-
tation of after-death influence is to be found in the range and tone of the
all-determining life.

AVhat " things " are they which the Apostle is anxious to have kept in
])erpetual memory % Yf ere they the dreams of a distempered fancy, the
transient experiences of his dying conflict? If you cast your eye over
the context, you will observe how frequently the Apostle employs the
words '■'• these i]dngs." For example, in verse 8, he says, "For if 'these
tldiKjs ' be in you ;' in verse 9, " But he that lacketh ' these things ' is
blind ;" verse 10, "For if ye do ' these things,' ye shall never fail ;" verse
12, "I will not be negligent to put you always in remembrance of ' these
things;'" and finally in the text, "That ye may have 'these tilings'
always in remembrance." Of what "things" does the fervent and heroic
writer testify 1 In the beginning of- his letter, the Apostle intimates
that the great end of the Christian economy is to make us " partakeos
of the Divine natui-e ;" every believer is to have in him all of God that
his capacity can contain. God in liis intellect, presiding over all the
efforts of his mental life ; God in his heart, dii'ecting all the issues of his
moral being ; God in his conduct, sanctifying all his social relations.
That is the sovereign object for which, through " Divine power," we are
" called to glory and virtue." The work of sanctification must go on
until the saint can say, "I and my Father are one." That is the sublime
end of Christianity. It is not to multiply theological teclmicalities ; it
is not to build one church spire higher than another ; it is not to furnish
a grindstone on which pugnacious bigots may whet their little swords ;
it is to gather up a shattered and overthrown hiimanity, to re-burnish the
living stones on which the fire of an enemy has left traces of fury, to
rebuild the fallen empire of manhood, until it shall be beautiful and
holy as a palace built for God.

The Apostle having begun, here proceeds to show that " diligence " is

ON POSTHUMOUS INFLUEMCE, 319

necessary to the full working out of tlio Christian life. He uses a word
that canuot easily be forgotten. He says that our simple duty is to
ADD ! Can we forget tlbcit ? The ripest scliolar amongst us is not
beyond that " add." We are to add the graces one to another, until
"charity" glitters above them all as a crowning stai". "Add to your
faith virtue, and to virtue knowledge, and to knowledge temperance,
and to temperance patience, and to patience godliness, and to godliness
brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness charity : tliere is no higlier
height in heaven ; it reaches the heart of God. After this injunction
there comes a remark full of significance. I specially call the eye of
young men to this ninth vei'se, " He that lackefch these things is blind,
and cannot see afar off." This is an interpretation of blindness which is
often overlooked. All bad men are blind. The true vision is moral.
Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see — " see " what 1 " See "
all great visions in one — ■'• they shall see God. " Call him blind who can
see only with his physical eyes. Love knoweth the deepest interpretations.
The clear eye of purity can read off the writing on the world's wall, when
the bloodshot eye of the blaspheming bacchanal can see but enough to
make his bones shake with avenging agony. Grace is genius. There is
a graceless, godless, atheistic thing called genius, but I call it insanity-;
the light of its eye is not the light of heaven, but the flare of an unholy
and unconsecrated fire. God hath " hidden " certain things from the
" wise and prudent, and revealed them unto babes ;" He has left the
wise shivering outside the guardian wall, and taken the " babes " with
Him to behold the growths of the jiaradise that never can be lost.

The Apostle having given this view of the Christian life, turns to his
personal experience. All old men lilce to talk about themselves. They
are their own library. Their recollections, like the sea-shells, have in
them the boom of the ocean, and in that boom they hear messages from
the venerable past. Let the old man talk. His tones fascinate himself,
at least, and he has a right to the harmless entrancement. Peter says,
"I will not be negligent," "I will stir you up," "I will endeavour."
His eye brightens, and in his voice there is a quiver of emotion ; he sees
the heavenly port ; he feels that he is breaking up fellowship with this
tabernacle : he descries the glory-crowned Beulah ; he hears the play of
the wave as ib breaks on the sinless shore ; and then speaks with rapture
of an " abundant entrance into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and
Saviour Jesus Christ." I have thus turned to the context, because it
gives us a view of the life which the Apostle had been living, and which
he intended to conclude upon earth by an *' endeavour " to perpetuate its
principles through all time. The Apostle has revealed the root-forces of
his being. He has shown us the sources of his vitality, and given to us
the secret of his sovereignty over all-deposing death. The lesson is clear,
that he who would be useful to posterity must be useful to his contem-

320

Tlin CITY TKMPLE.

poraries. He avIio would conqnor deatli, and he a ministei* of God to all
coming generations, must live the symmetrical and compreliensive life
here sketched by the Apostle's dying hand. Sublime life and sublime
influence are cause and effect. If we are careful about the life, the
influence need not excite our anxiety. It is ours to plant, and ours to
water ; and the increase in this, as in everything else, is with God. Do
we not often limit the application of that passage 1 Do we not lock it
np in the church, and confine it to moral service alone'? Why, sirs, it
is as true in intellectual cultivation as it is in preaching the gospel. It
is as true in the farmer's field as in the ]jreacher's pulpit. The finite
never can do more than plant and water, and all increase — the increase
of flower, or forest, or thought, or virtue — is necessarily with the Infinite.
Let us do these things, and our influence shall be immortal.

History, however, compels lis to turn aside, and offer an explanation.
When it is affirmed that sublime life and sublime influence are cause
and effect, it should be added that the influence is occasionally of tardy
growth. Sometimes a man cannot be read by his own age. The prophet
li^•es in the future. He cannot be comprehended by the soothsayers,
the magicians, and the monthly prognosticatoi's. Some will say that he
is Elias, and others one of the old prophets. All kinds of speculation
will be suggested. As in an oil painting, those who come too near will
see nothing but thick flakes of paint. But his day will surely come.
The darkness may be long in comprehending the light ; but the light
will certaitdy prevail. The wise word may be long in winning a fit
audience, but its ho])e is in its ages. The profoimd book may remain
sealed, but some of the kindred of the lion of the tribe of Judah will
arise and open the volume, and interpret it to a wondering and admiring
world. Persevere. Quit you like men. Say again and again, with a
hei'o's hope, " I will endeavour," and, verily, you shall take your sacred
place among

" The dead but sceptred monarchs who still nile
Our spirits from their urns."

2. The fact that life is the cause of influence, that life is attended
with results that are imperishable, greatly enhances the dignity and
responsibility of living. " No man liveth unto himself." A man's
audience, as has just been hinted, may be small to-day, but if he has a
living word to utter, his congregation will increase with the ages. Is
Milton dead 1 Is Bunyan clean gone for ever 1 Is Pascal's memory
like a vanished star 1 Milton never sang to so lai'ge an assembly as he
sings to to-day. Bunyan is, so to speak, more alive to-day than when
he dreamed the world's happiest dream ; he had life then, but he has
''life more abundantly now." The true man does not woi-k for one
generation alone. Every true thought is a globe of light, which shall
never cease to shine in the world's briuhteninff firmament. Passing all

ON POSTITUMOLfR INFLUENCE. 321

computation is the reward of the great thinker or the illustrious servant.
His compensation is an ever-recurring circle ; literally, it never ceases ;
the cup of water always comes back changed into wine. God has never
done putting crowns upon the head of the faithful.

Still we are to take the element of time into consideration. God does
not measure by our chronometers. This is incidentally and beautifully
brought out by our Lord in conversation with His brethren, when they
wished Him to go up to the feast of tabernacles. They were ambitious,
impatient, \uibelieving men. A man is often impeded and misunderstood
even by his own kinsfolk. So it was with Jesus ou the occasion referred
to. They urged Him to go into Judea, to get nearer and nearer the
great metropolitan centre, and to display His mighty works on the
widest platform. This impatience elicited from Jesus a most profound
and instructive reply. It was a reply terribly severe, too. He uttei-ed
it without fury of tone, but it might have consumed the most brazen
cheek. It is wonderful how terrible a thing may be said in a whisper.
When those brethren were all pressing Him with petulant importunity
to take a bolder position in society. He made this quiet but most
blanching reply, " My time is not yet come, but your time is always
ready." The fungus grows and perishes within the compass of a few
hours ; but the oak is the growth of centuries. The great truth set
forth in Christ's reply seems to be, that in proportion to the width, and
volume, and weight of character, and in proportion to the duration and
splendour of destiny, is the time required for a man's full unfoldment
and consolidation. The rocket splutters out all its empty secrets at once ;
the stars have not told all their story yet. We must not measure all
men by the same rule. One man comes to his full estate in a single day,
as it wei-e ; another must do cures to-day and to-morrow, and not until
the third day is he perfected.

I have spoken of the reward of the great thinker ^and illustrious
servant ; let me add, that what is true in the loftier realms of thought is
also true in the humbler spheres of service. The law of the oak is the
law of the daisy. All character leaves more or less of influence behind
it. Is that child of yours dead, that years ago, with a bursting heart
yoLi laid under the sod 1 As long as you carry her fair face in your
eye's picture-book — as long as her charming prattle is memoried in your
faithful ear — as long as you thrill under a well-remembered touch of her
soft little hand — so long the child is not dead, but sleepeth. Is your
companion dead with whom you were wont to take sweet counsel 1 You
hid no secrets from each other. In the new-born light and in the
deepening shade you walked together, talked together, exchanged specu-
lations, and compared experiences. The one was the complement of
the other. And now that you know him no longer after the flesh, is he
therefore dead 'I Verily, no. So tlinroughly v.^ere you one in all your

322 THE CITY TEMPLE.

Iiiglier instincts and aspirations, that even now you feel as though you
could consult him ; even now he —

" Comes to your side in the twilight dim,
When the spirit's eye only sees."

Even now, with mystic mien and hallowing voice, he takes part in the
counsels of your life.

It has just been affirmed that posthumous influence invests life with
enhanced dignity. While Bunyan lived he was but as a mustard-seed ;
now he is as a great cathedral tree, in which ten thousand voices are
lifted up in laudatory and grateful song ! " Thou fool, that which thou
sowest is not quickened except it die." No living man is complete.
While your heart beats you are undergoing a process. Time will mellow
you ; age wall tone your character. Do not urge society to give you a
verdict just now. Society is too heated and confused to pronounce upon
you with the accuracy of delibei'ation and the dignity of repose. Death
will befriend you. A most solemn and righteous estimation of character
is often introduced by death. The green hillock in the yard of the dead
is a judgment-seat which might appal an unjust judge. Your appeal,
then, under all misapprehension and misi'epresentation, must be to the
new hours which Time has yet to strike from her bell, and which shall
chime out many a reversal of condemnation, and many a fulfilment of
expectation long deferred. We who believe that tlie wheel of retribu-
tion never pauses, that death does but give us new aspects of life, that
there is a higher empire than the flesh, that the absolute and final
adjudication is yet to supervene, should carry ourselves with the patience,
the calmness, the dignity of men who cannot die ! To-day is not the
measure of our brief eternity ; there is a to-moiTow coming — coming
from the heart of God — coming from the clime of light — coming with
justice in its hand and mercy on its lip ; and to that better day we must
commit our cause. Tlie good can afibrd to be patient. The true can
wait until the battering shower is over. The storm can extinguish
man's rushlights, but the orbs of God burn on far beyond the storm's
dark wing.

I spoke of responsibility as wiell as dignity, arising from the fact that
influence survives oiu' personal presence in society. Opinions have come
down to us from the eaiiiest ages, and are to-day ranked among the most
influential of national or social forces. Take the one case of the family.
The old man quotes what his venerated mother said when he was quite
a child, and the mother's word is to him more powerful than all the
statutes of learned parliaments. You have seen a man's face break into
smiles when he called up words which moulded and directed his infancy.
The voice that uttered them is employed in other spheres, far oft" in
the higher light that we have come to know by the sweet name of

ON POSTHUMOUS INFLUENCE. 323

heaven ; but the thoughts which they embody are comforting ano-els,
tliat will tarry with us till the dark horizon blushes with the purple of a
better da}^

The point to be remembered is this : — our 'jjeraoncd ahsencedoes not
terminate our influence tqxjn earth. "We are setting in motion a train of
influences that shall outrun the wheels of the world, and be but com-
mencing when those wheels take fire and cease their revolutions for ever.
Tremendous is the responsibility of those who have to operate upon
unformed and unsettled mind. The writing which you parents write
can never be obliterated. Even circumstances to which you attach little
or no importance haunt the memory. The frown, the smile, the oentle
Avord, the harsh rebuii", are not to be forgotten! A terrible thino- it is to
live ! Sirs, dying is nothing ! Beasts die. Living is evei-ythino- i On
every side the invisible is pressing upon us. The lifting of a hand sends
a shudder to the stars ! The failing of a tear is heai*d in the depths of
the Infinite ! We little know how sensitive is the universe. Wherever
I put the tip of my finger I touch the hem of the King's o-arment. The
stones need but a word from heaven to cause them to stand up as chil-
dren of Abraham. Yv^hat, then, shall be said of the moral universe '?
Experiences, ideas, emotions run on from age to age, and thus to-daii
bears the uncounted riches of all expired time. To live once is to live
for ever. The feeblest pulse in the obscurest circle flutters and thrills on
in its influences when faded worlds expire, and shattered empires f^o down
in death.

3. Every man who in vital sympathy with Jesus Christ rejoices in the
consciousness that he is working for posterity. Here and there on life's
thronged highway, we have seen little tattered banners set up, bearing'
this inscription : — " I must take care of myself, and posterity may do as
well as it cau." This has the semblance of a profoundly wise economv
It is declared to be a fine specimen of the development of individualitv
Let fire fall on it ! Let the angry earth rend and swallow it up ! Let
it swiftly fall into the pit ! Iily answer is ready for every man who will
stand up and openly declare that his Christianity has never led him to
make any humble or sublime "endeavour" on behalf of others. If anv
man will say, after having bowed his knee at Bethlehem, and studied the
mystery of blood in Gethsemane, and interpreted the si<^nification of
Calvary's dread work, that his heart is driven in upon itself without

any yearning of affection towards others — even towards the unborn my

answer is at hand : standing before God's altar, feeling ujion me mio-htily
the power of a Divine consecration, marking the precious blood which

flowed for the world's guilt, a guilt beyond the world's comprehendino-

standing there, not as an irate priest, but as outraged man, in the name
of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Ghost, I excommunicate the
wretch !

334 THK CITY TEMPLE.

Will those moral luuatics, who are so selfishly devoted to their own
immediate interests, reflect how much they themselves were indebted to
their forerunners 1 Do they sufficiently consider that they themselves
were oiot born into an u-)ifu7'nished hoiise ? Who built the temples,
fabricated the machinery, patronised the discoveries, wrote the literature,
which make up the world's great bulk? How came we into possession of
riches so vast, so golden 1 Who opened the thousand fountains, whose
living waters turn the very desert into a fruitful field 1 How such
things tell of ancestry ! How they bind us to the past ! How they
multiply our obligations ! It clearly comes to this, that every man of us
is bom deeply in debt. Have we paid the poets that have sung to us 1
Have we paid the mechanicians who have shown us that knowledge is
power 1 Have we paid the mariners who have found out a highway
over the billows? Have we paid the authors who have turned our soli-
tude into society ? Every one of us is deeply in debt. The Past is our
patient and gracious creditor, and our obligations can only be paid to the
Future,

The argument which I wish to build upon tlie fact is this, — that as we
cannot pay the mighty men who have covered the past with immortal
renown, and who have laid us deeply in debt to their genius, their piety,
their benevolence, we can only show our gratitude by noble "endeavours"
to imitate their example. Our thunders of applause are laothing to those
whose bodies moulder in the chambers of the dead, and whose spirits now
worship in the upper light. We may stamp with tremendous approba-
tion upon their graves, biit the ear has done with hearing ; we may roar
our vain applause to the sti-earaing Avinds, but heaven opens not to let
the unavailing thunder pass. No ! let us serve the living, and through
them the coming ages. We may all do this. Some can throw open
kingdoms of thought, others can cany the prophet's mantle ; some can
head the advancing army, others can lift up the wounded and weary.
Blessed is that servant who is found waiting ! We do not work alone.
Down through the roaring and pitiless tempest comes this word of
strength, " Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world."
Into the dark cave into which despair has sometimes dx-iven us comes
the same word of power. If we falter for one moment, it is that we may
spring forward with increased energy the next. We are not to see the
results of all that we do. It is enough that no true word can return void
to the speaker. Utter the Lord's cry to the sons of men ; put in the
roots; scatter the seed; do all things written in the Divine law of human
life ; and one day the eternal summer shall set in, and all memories
shall be absorbed in the one recollection, that Jesus Christ tasied death
for every man

Cfje Citg Cniijjh.

A Discourse delivered by

JOSEPH PAEKEE,

In the Poultry Chapel, on Thursday Morning, April 14th, 1870.

THE HANDS OF GOD BETTER THAN THE HANDS OF MEN.

"And David said unto Gad, I arn in a great strait; let me now fall into the
hand of the Lord, for very great are His mercies, but let me not fall into the hand
of man." — 1 Chron. xxi. 13.

David was tempted to number the people of Israel. He said unto"" Joab
and to the rulers of the people, " Go, number Israel, from Beersheba even
unto Dan, and bring the number of them to me that I may know it."
Joab was a wise counsellor ; in this case the wisdom was with the
subject, not with the king. Joab answered, " The Lord make His
people a hundred times so many as they be, but my lord the king are
they not all my lord's servants 1 Why, then, doth my lord require this
thing 1 Wliy will he be a cause of trespass to Israel 1 " Tlie protest was
disregarded. When kings are mad, who can stand before them 1 — mad,
not intellectually, but morally ; the madness of the heart, compared with
which mental lunacy is an unspeakable blessing. There are times when
the soul seems to be given over to the power of the devil, when it is
caught on every side, when religion itself becomes little better than a
temptation to sin. Men are sometimes brought to suppose that they are
doing things for the glory of God when in reality they are but heightening
the crumbling pedestal on which their own little dignity is to be shown.
David might have said to himself, I will see how many fighting men
there are in Israel that can be brought up to the Lord's cause in the day
of battle ; I have no wish to magnify my own strength, or to put a
fictitious value upon my own position ; in fact, I am not concerned about
myself at all in this matter, my only object is to see how many qualified
men might be called up to the help of the Lord in the day of battle. In
saying all this David might assure himself that he was deeply concerned
only for the Lord's name and glory, and that nothing could be more
unselfish than his godly concern for the welfare of Israel. There are
what may be called subtle sins, as well as vulgar sins. A man may set
himself in open opposition to God, and boldly say that he means to fight
down the divine supremacy, and put a mark of dishonour on God's

30

326 THE CITY TEMPLE.

throne ; he may be mad enough and vulgar enough for that ; he may
make a blustering and impotent idiot of himself, and defeat his own
intentions by his exaggeration. I do not pause to argue any case with
this man, for he is not the kind of character that does much evil in
Rociety ; his very fury is its own best check. The drunkard who is
rolling in the ditch is rather a warning than a temptation to other
people. The thing to be noted is, that there are subtle sins — sins which
do net look like sins ; sins that are done up in beautiful parcels, that
have an inviting aspect, that come to men altogether in false guises,
and take men unawares. There is a possibility of doing things that look
■well, and yet are bad, of encouraging ambitions, and strengthening
tastes which, under a passable reputation, are eating away the substance
and strength of our best life. It will be a mistake on our part to
imagine that David exhausted the sin of counting, and that now
arithmetical calculations may be made without trespassing upon the
province and honour of God. It is easy for us to rise in petulant
indignation against David, and to declare that he ought not to have
counted his men ; but let us beware, lest in so duing we provoke tjie
spirit of David to retort that it is possible for us to count our money so
as to disclose the veiy motive and intention which on his part we condemn
as vicious. Yes, there is an atheistical way of counting money. A man
may go over coin by coin of his property, and look at it in a way which,
being interpreted, signifies — this is my strength, this is my confidence,
so long as I have all these coins it is impossible that I can get far wi'ong,
or know much trouble ; these will be my answer and defence in the day
of accusation and adversity ! The most harmless looking things may be
done in a distrustful and self-considering spii-it. David was undoubtedly
giving way to low considerations ; he was trying an arm of flesh ; he
was encouraging himself by a review of forces which he imagined to be
invincible. God, who is jealous for the honour of His servants, and
jealous for the honour of His own name, sent Gad, David's own seer, to
put three propositions before the king : " Choose thou either three years
of famine, or three months to be destroyed before thy foes, while the
sword of thine enemies overtaketh thee ; or else three days the sword of
the Lord, even the pestilence in the land, and the angel of the Lord
destroying throughout all the coasts of Israel." To these propositions
David answered, " I am in a great strait ; let me fall now into the hand
of the Lord, for very great are His mercies, but let me not fall into the
hand of man." I propose to regard this answer as showing that in the
saddest experiences of the heart, in the extremities of human guilt, in
the allotment of penalties, and in the woi-king out of law, it is better to
fall into the hand of God than into the hands of men ; that the Lord is
merciful and gracious, slow to anger and plenteous in mercy, and that
like as a father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear
Him.

ON THE HANDS OF GOD BETTER THAN THE HANDS OF MEN. 327

The doctrine before \is is, tliat as sinners, as sinners before God, and as
sinnei's towards each, other, onr highest hope is not in the incomplete
and perverted mercy of man, but in the infinite mercy which is founded
upon the infinite righteousness of God. We may, perhaps, help ourselves
towards a clearer understanding of this doctrine by first considering that
it is better to fall into the hands of the highest class of men than into
the hand« of tlie lowest j if this be made clear, it will give us a hint of
how much better it may be to receive sentence from God than from the
highest human authorities.

Take a debated legal case. In the first instance it may be brought
before the local magistracy ; but, very possibly, the result may be
considered unsatisfactory by one party or the other, hence the case
may be moved to the court above ; there again dissatisfaction may be the
result, and an ap^jeal may be carried to the highest court in the land.
The decision of that court carries with it the advantage that at all events
nothing further can be done — all that legal learning, acumen, skill, and
experience can do, has been done. The result, even then, may not be
satisfactory ; still, by so much as the case has been carried to the highest
tribunal, and pronounced upon by the highest wisdom, there is strong
ground to rest upon. Not only so, there is a point beyond this ; for by
so much as the man wishes that there were a higher court still to which
an appeal luight be made, does he show how deeply graven upon the
heart is the law, that it is better to fall into the hands of the highest
than into the hands of the lowest ; that it is better to fall into the hands
of God than into the hands of men. It is quite true that the decision of the
highest may not bring with it satisfaction to the mind ; that is not the point
before us ; the one point is, that men do aspire to have their cases deter-
mined, not by the lowest, but by the highest authorities in the land, and it
is only by so much as they are persuaded that they have had access to
those highest authorities, that they approach anything like a condition
of rest and satisfaction.

What is true in the law is equally true in all criticism. Take an
amateur painter : as his work approaches completion, he permits his
friends to look at it. His father declares himself lost in wonder ; his
mother unhesitatingly says that the work of her son is perfect ; his
kinsfolk generally admit that there is genius in the family. So m.uch for
one class of critics ; but, inasmuch as the artist is aware that this is the
very lowest class, it is impossible for him to be satisfied even with the
most flattering commendation of his skill. Next cou^e other competitors
for fame ; and they, as becometh inci})ient greatness, look on critically and
coldly ; and the amateur consoles himself luider their censure, by finding
in envious rivalry a full explanation of their reserve. Is the artist
satisfied with the opinions which have been pronounced upon his work 1
Does he consider himself favoured of fortune, because his father and
his mother have, without modification, accorded to him the tribute of

328

THE CITY TEMPLE.

their favour 1 Or does he consider himself condemned to neglect and
forgetfulness, because men who are in the same position as himself have
treated his work with coldness ? He says, alike to the flattery and the
censure, I have yet to be judged by the Academicians; you are not the
judges; they will say what the work is worth; by their word I abide. I
cannot accept your flattery ; I cannot be discouraged by your censure.
I must appeal to the highest, and by the highest I stand or fall. Even
supposing the judgment of the highest to be iinfavourable, the painter
knows that, morally, it is impartial, and, artistically, it is supreme ; and
by so much he is set at rest as to the value of his work. But suppose
that all preliminary criticism is favourable, the wise artist will yet say,
I must not rest content with this, it has not the full consent of my own
mind ; these people are not able to judge my work by the right standards.
The great judgment has yet to be pronounced ; all that has been said
may be confirmed or reversed, and not until the appointed authorities
have expressed their opinion can I feel at rest.

Take the case of the young public speaker. It will be for the advan-
tage of such a man to be judged by the best speakers which the country
can supply. Do not let his audience consist of half-educated men, but
fill the house in which he is to speak with the highest talent of the land.
Even then, should the young man fail in his effort, there will be in his
hearers a discrimination that can find out any sign or trace of power that
may be discovered in his service, there will be an honourable treatment of
his failings ; and everything that he does that looks in the direction of
power will be viewed with hopefulness and encouraged with stimulating
words. It is better to be judged by the highest than by the lowest ;
men have less to fear when they act or speak in the presence of the
noblest minds than when they are criticised and judged by men of inferior
sagacity and culture. Constantly in life we are seeing the conflict of
opinions, and waiting for the expression of the highest, and when the
highest has been ascertained, society settles down into contentment and
rest. On the other hand, until the highest has been made known, men
cannot be quite at ease ; the vexed question is still beset with perilous
possibilities, and no man is foolhardy enough to build upon it with
confidence and satisfaction.

Now, in carrying these illustrations into the religious realm, we must
distinguish between the principle and the accident. There is of course
infinite disparity between God and the highest human authorities ; those
authorities are not infallible, even upon matters which come within the
scope of their proper functions ; judges may err in law ; academicians
may err in art ; physicians may err in medicine ; — the one thing to be
remembered is, that by so much as men are sure that they have appealed
to the highest accessible tribunal, are they satisfied with the decision.
We come then to the one great question of sin. How is sin to be met 1
How is sin to be forgiven 1 That sin must somehow be recognised and

ON THE HANDS OF GOD BETTER THAN THE HANDS OF MEN. 329

punished is made abundantly cleax' by all the arrangements of society.
By common consent it has been determined to hunt down sin that affects
our social relations ; how is the great sin which aflfects the heart and dis-
turbs our attitude towards God to be met 1 We may seek to punish one
another, or to heal one another, bvit our punishments are mockeries, and
our healings do not touch the disease. You may scourge a felon, but he
is a felon still. When you have shut up the manslayer for life in the
gloomiest solitude, you have not touched the spirit of murder thsit is in
him. When we have sought to modify sin, to show that corruption is
not so corrupt, and that there are spots of liglit even in the densest moral
darkness, we have not really healed the heart which we have addressed
in such vain words, we have only put over it a thin covering of lies which
will be consumed ; and the heart will be the worse [for the delusion to
which it has yielded. All human punishment is but negative. Human
punishment is in fact simply a protest.

Why is it better that the sinner should fall into the hands of God rather
than into the hands of men 1 In reply to this question, good use might
be made of the many pleasing considerations which arise in connection
•with God's wisdom, God's righteousness, and God's perfect knowledge of
facts ; but I shall include all these in a higher answer — viz., it is better
to fall into the hand of God than into the hands of men, because in His
whole treatment of human sin God is constantly seeking, not the destruc-
tion, hut the salvation of the sinner. The punishment which follows sin
is not mere punishment ; it is not a bald assertion of the rights of law ;
there is a redemptive element in it ; the rod itself conveys a call to the
Cross. God has never answered our sin merely by punishment. To
have contented Himself with punishment, strictly as such, would have
been to proclaim His weakness. Nothing is easier than to measure sin
by penalty, and to make an end of transgression by a visitation of the
rod. All this, however, is weakness itself; it is impotent compromise;
it leaves the great rebellion untouched. God answers sin not by His
hand only, but by His heart. When we ask, how does God propose to
encounter sin 1 He does not point to the spear of lightning, and say, So
long as that spear is at my command the sinner shall not go unpunished ;
He does not refer us to the thunder of His power, and say. So long as I
can avail Myself of such resoxii'ces the sinner shall be humiliated : all
this would amount to less than nothing ; it is negative ; it is puerile, if
it be considered strictly within its own limits ; God, instead of confining
Himself to penalty, sets up the Cross, and shows men the sinfulness of
sin through the depth and tenderness of His own mercy. Man seeks to
magnify his own righteousness, by pronouncing sentence of condemna-
tion upon other people. Man is apt to think that he will be considered
virtuous if he speak loudly against other people's vices. It is possible to
have quite a genius in devising penalties, and yet for the heart to know
nothing of true loyalty to virtue. Magistracy is one thing, righteous-

330 THE CITY TEMPLE.

ness is another. Law-making may be reduced to a science, but law-
keeping comes out of the heart. All human legislation in reference to
crime is of necessity incomplete, because it touches simply the overt
act, and not the motive or the spirit underlying and explaining the life.
All incompleteness is weakness, and weakness has but three courses
before it — it succumbs to an ignominious fate ; it takes advantage of
compromise ; or it defends itself by exaggeration. All human penal law
is ex post facto ; it is made after the crime ; it is something that comes
up to meet a certain class of facts ; or by so much as human law is
apparently anticipative, it is founded upon inferences and probabilities
•which make it really retrospective. Crime came first, the statute book
came next. On the other hand, God's treatment of sin was determined
before the creation of man ; for we read in the Holy Book of the Lamb
slain from before the foundation of the world. The idea of redemption was
established before the infliction of mere punishment could by possibility
be accomplished. The Cross is the first figure in the immeasurable past.
Redemption lies at the very foundation of the Divine government. ' It
is no afterthought ; it is not the device of a magistracy organised to put
down public crime ; it is the expression of the infinite righteousness
and the infinite love of God.

Then let us be clear upon this point, lest sentiment overrule reason.
We are not to suppose that the punishment of sin is either unrighteous
or inconsistent with the love of God. Sin must be punished. The law
must smite. Sin punishes itself ; it kindles a fire in the soul ; it pierces
the sinner with the sharpest sword. No man can do wrong without
smarting for his iniquity, and all his smarting is a testimony that God is
on the throne, that God is looking on, that the streams of His infinite life
are flowing through the universe in one continual protest against all evil,
and one continuous encouragement and benediction upon all good. We
shall abuse the spirit of the text if we imagine that by going to God we
shall escape the punishment of our sins. It is possible to imagine those
who have not been closely listening to our argument to say, " Inasmuch
as God deals so mercifully and lovingly with sinnei'S, we shall leave our
whole case in His hand and cast ourselves upon His mercy, in order that
we may escape the consequences of our sin." You may say that if you
please, but let it be understood that it is not with the authority of the
argument which we have now been considering. It is more than a delu-
sion, it is practical blasphemy. By going to God, you go to punishment ;
in appearing before His infinite holiness, you bring upon your souls a
swift and sure condemnation of everything that is evil in your nature ;
but herein is the difference between the punishment man accords, and
the punishment with which God visits the sinner who casts himself into
His hands — under the Divine punishment there lies the great and
infinitely precious fact, that God is seeking the salvation of the
sinner. The punishment is not merely negative. God's government is

ON THE HANDS OF GOD BETTER THAN THE HANDS OF MEN. 331

not a mere magistracy. It is a moral dominion — a government of the
lieart.

Need a word be said about the fallacy that men would deal more lightly
with one another, if the whole question of punishment were left between
themselves, because of selfish reasons. First of all, the suggestion is
philosophically untrue ; and, secondly, its moral unsatisfactoi-iness is
obvious. The conscience would remain after the judgment. To deal lightly
with sin is actually to commit sin. To tell lies to one another, by way of
modifying each other's guilt, is a method which carries its own condem-
nation. We must accept the great principle, that I'^wnisJmient can never
lessen shi ; that punishment is strictly negative ; and that God alone can
accompany punishment with a scheme of righteous and merciful redemp-
tion. It is good to fall into Thy hands, gracious Father j when Thou
dost smite, it is that we, feeling the bitterness of sin, may desire to
abandon it ; when Thou art angiy, we see how true and pure is Thy
love ; when Thou dost terribly thunder against us, it is not that we
may be driven to destruction, but that v/e may be called to salvation and
peace.

What is wanted for a full accej)tation of the principle of this text ?

1. A deep sense of sin. David had it: "I have sinned greatly in that
I have done, and now I beseech Thee, 0 Lord, take away the iniquity of
Thy servant, for I have done very foolishly." If men have inadequate
notions of sin, they will, of necessity, have inadequate notions of its
treatment. Come to God with a sense of your own integrity, with a
spirit that is prepared to defend itself against the charges of God's law,
and the Gospel will be to you nothing but a mockery, an offer that is to
be declined with indignation, if not with contempt. You do not need it;
you are imagining that you are superior to it ; you are not at all on the
moral line on which the Gospel operates. But let the heart be smitten
with a sense of evil ; let the whole soul cry out with contrition and with
despair ; let the watchword of the life be, '' O wretched man that I am \"
then in that hour of extremity, when all nature gives way, when life is a
burden, when futurity is a threat, let it be proposed to you to fall into
the hands of God, who is gracious, loug-suffeiing, and infinitely merciful,
and who will mingle with all His judgment elements of love, and you
will feel that the proposition appeals to the very deepest needs of your
spirit, and that there is but one answer which can be made to an offer so
infinitely gracious. I am well assured that my word will be I'eceived in
one of two ways : to those who are overwhelmed with a sense of their own
moral respectability it will be a word without meaning or application j
to the broken-hearted and contrite, to whom sin has become the most
tormenting problem of their lives, it will be a word of illumination and
encouragement.

2. An unreserved committed of our case to God. David gave himself
up entirely to God's will. Mark the beauty of the expression, Let me

332 THE CITY TEMPLE.

fall into the hand of the Lord ; not, let me stand before the Lord and
consult Him, laying before Him my opinions and pointing out a modi-
fication of His judgment ; not that at all ; God would not have treated
with David on any such terms, nor will He treat with us if we come
before Him with a proposition instinct with such selfishness. "We must
fall into the hand of God— an expression which signifies resignation,
perf^jct trust in the divine righteousness and benevolence, and an entire
committal of our whole case to the disposal of God.

Fall into the hand of God, 0 misjudged man ! We are living in a
■world where misjudgments are being constantly pronounced upon our
conduct, our words are mistaken, our tones are perverted, our whole
. spirit is misunderstood : what is our hope? and in what does our soul find
rest? — in the belief that God is over all, and that He himself pronounces
the final judgment ! In doing what is right and true, and doing it with
individuality of method, you will unquestionably expose yourself to the
censure of many critics. Men who profess to be men of taste, men who
have made taste their idol, men whose taste is so highly cultivated as to
have become the most odious vulgarity, will tell you that their whole
nature shi'inks from this or that method of doing things, and they will
not be slow to suppose that because what they call their " whole nature "
shrinks from something that bears your individuality, they are, therefore,
very lofty and righteous judges ! God knoweth our frame ; He remem-
bereth that we are dust ; and in the hour of His judgment He will look
upon our life, not in such incomplete portions as are visible to the public
eye, but in all the secret things, in all the hidden elements and forces that
have gone to make it what it is ; He will look at our life from its begin-
ning to its end, and see how circumstances that never could be told to men
have often asserted an overruling claim in oar spirit, and caused us to
assume attitudes and relations which have actually been distressingly
painful to ourselves ; He will judge not by the o\itward but by the inward,
and if it be possible for His infinite love to find in us one redeeming
feature. He will so magnify that as to cause our weaknesses and our
faihires, in so far as they have been mere infirmities, to be forgotten in
the amplification of those features on which He himself can look with
any degree of approbation. The whole world is in the hand of God, let
us be thankful. The whole past is under His review, let us leave it
with the assurance that His judgment is righteous. The whole future
is under His control, let us pass into it with the steadiness, the quietness
and the majesty of those who know that all the resources of God are
placed at the disposal of all who put their whole trust in His wisdom
and love. We can talk but inadequately about these things now ; poor
are our best notions about the goodness of the Divine rule and the
blessedness of falling into the Divine hands. Not until we reach heaven
can we fully know how good a thing it is to have given up our whole
heart and life to the keeping and direction of our heavenly Father.

C|e (Citg Cemph.

A Discourse delivered by

JOSEPH PAEKEE,

In the Poultry Chapel, on Thursday Morning, April 21st, 1870.

THE CALL OF A BEAM.
This morning I propose to read tlie twelfth chapter of the book of
Genesis, pausing here and there, as occasion may arise, to paraphrase the
narrative, or give such exposition and iUustration of it as may help us to
realize the scene, and apply the doctrine to our own circumstances.
Take the first verse : —

1 Now the Lord had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy
kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will shew thee.

God's claim upon the individual life is here asserted. God detaches
men from early associations, from objects of special care and love, and
makes them strangers in the earth. The family idea is sacred, but the
Divine will is, so to speak, more sacred still ; when the God of the
families of the earth calls men from their kindred and their father's
house, all tributary laws must be swallowed up by the great stream of
the Divine Fatherhood. These calls, so shattering in their social effect,
and so painful in their bearing upon the individual heart, are necessary
to shake men out of the secondary positions into which they would settle
themselves. All earthly parentage is but a reflection of God's fatherly
relation to mankind ; and if we have idolised and abused that which is
merely secondary and typical, we need such calls as these to remind iis
that over all there reigns, in gracious majesty and tender righteousness,
the Maker, the Sovereign, and the Redeemer of our lives.

In this call we see an outline of the great providential system under
which we live. God comes into a family and breaks it up ; God sets the
individual man upon a special course ; God shows the land in which we
are to dwell. Up to this point there is harshness in the startling

31

334 TllK CITY TEMPLE.

demand. Abram is to go out, not knowing whither ; and if he did
know whither, still the fact that he was called to break up old and
endeared associations is enough to fill him with sorrow and dismay.
We must read further if we would recover composui-e of faith in God's
goodness. The first verse is authoritative ; but man cannot live a great
life upon mere authority, even when the authority is known to be
Divine. Men would starve on law. To law must be added grace, if the
soul is to know all the joy and peace of life in God. Read the next
verses, and say if there be iu them one tone of severity,

2 And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy
name great ; and thou shalt be a blessing : 3 And I will bless them that bless
thee, and curse him that curseth thee : and in thee shall all famihes of the earth be
blessed.

Great lives are trained by great promises. The world has never been
. left without a great promise singing in its wondering and troubled heart
— something to rely upon, something to appeal to when diSiculty was
extreme. God never calls men for the purpose of making them less than
they are, except when they have been dishonouring themselves by sin.
This may be taken as a law : God's calls are upward ; they are calls
towards fuller life, purer light, and sweeter joy. Men do not know their
full capacity except in their service of God : His presence in tlie soul is a
life-expanding and life-glorifying presence. This is the claim that we set
up on behalf of true religion — the religion of Jesus Christ — that it
exalts human nature, it enriches the soul, it increases the substance and
worth of manhood. To confound obedience with slavery, is to overlook
the argument which is founded upon the nature of God ; to obey the
little, the mean, the paltry, is to be enslaved ; to enter the cage of
custom or passion, is to be subject to bondage ; but to accept the invita-
tion of the Sun, and to poise ourselves in his gladdening jjresence is liberty
and joy.

Look at this promise as throwing light upon the compensations of life.
Abram is called to leave his country, his kindred, and his father's house,
and, so far, there is nothing but loss. Had the call ended here, the lot
of Abram might have been considered hard ; but when did God take
anything from a man, without giving him manifold more in return ]
Suppose that the return has not been made immediately manifest, what
then ? Is to-day the limit of God's working time 1 Has He no provinces

THE CALL OF ABRAM. 335

beyond this little world 1 Does the door of the grave open upon nothiuc
but infinite darkness and eternal silence ] But even confining the
judgment within the hour of this life, it is true that God never touches
the heart with a trial without intending to bring in upon it some grander
gift, some tenderer benediction.

Look at this promise as showing the oneness of God with His people :
" I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee." The
good man is not alone. Touch him, and you touch God. Help him, and
your help is taken as if it were rendered to God himself. This may
give us an idea of the sublime life to which we are called — we live, and
move, and have our being in God ; we are temples, our life is an
expression of Divine influence ; in our voice there is an undertone of
Divinity.

Look at this promise, as showing the influence of the present over the
future : " In thee shall all the families of the earth be blessed." This is
a principle rather than an exception of true life. Every man should
look upon himself as an instrument of possible blessing to the whole
world. One family should be a blessing to all families within its
influence. Of course, the true and full interpretation of the promise is to
be found in the person and work of Jesus Christ, the Saviour and Brother
of all who receive Him by faith into their hearts ; yet there are great
secondary and collateral meanings of the promise, which ought not to be
held in contempt. We should not be looking for the least but for the
greatest interpretations of life — not to make our life as little and ineffec-
tive as possible, but to give it fulness, breadth, strength, to Which the
weary and the sorrowful may look with confidence and thankfulness.
Christianity never reduces life to a minimum ; it developes it, strengthens
it in the direction of Jesus Christ's infinite perfectness and beauty.

4 So Abram departed, as the Lord had spoken unto him ; and Lot went with
him : and Abram was seventy and five years old when he departed out of Haran.

5 And Abram took Sarai his wife, and Lot his brother's son, and all their substance
that they had gathered, and the souls that they had gotten in Haran ; and they
went forth to go into the land of Canaan ; and into the land of Canaan they came.

6 And Abram passed through the land unto the place of Sichem, unto the plain of
Moreh. And the Canaanite was then in the land.

There will always be central figures in society, men of commanding
life, around whom other persons settle into secondary positions. We
cannot all be Abrams ; we cannot all have distinct names in the future.

336 . THE CITY TEMPLE.

Yet, though we cannot have the greatness, we may have the goodness of
Abram. But few men in any country touch the highest point of fame ;
thousands Ti^^on thousands in all generations come to honour and influence,
yet in a few months after their death their names cease to have any
interest but for the smallest circles. This I'eflection ought not to dis-
courage virtue. Peace of heart is better than mere renown. To be
known in heaven is the best fame. To have a place in the love of God
is to enjoy the true exaltation. In the company now journeying towards
Canaan, there is one figure that gives unity and meaning to the whole
group, yet there is not one in all the band whose life, judged by the
Divine standard, is unimportant.

The one man, Abram, holds the promise ; all the other persons in the
company hold it secondarily. All men do not receive the direct reve"
lation and vision of God ; they are followers, not leadei's — echoes, not
voices. Personal supremacy, to be beneficent and enduring, should be
tlie result of Divine election. Abram was supreme because God had
called him. The salvation of the soul is undoubtedly an individual act ;
the soul must think, repent, believe, resolve for itself. No man can
repent or believe for another, yet in the woiking out of Divine plans
one man must follow another, and be content to shine with reflected
light. It is so in statesmanship, in literature, and in civilization generally.
Take Abram away from this group, and the group becomes ridiculous.
One man is called to stand nearer God than another, and to interpret the
purposes of God to the world. There is an empty defiance which
proclaims itself in the well-known terms, " I don't pin my faith to any
man's sleeve ;" " I think for myself ;" there is nothing but vanity in
such loftj' pretensions, made, indeed, the more mischievous by the grain
of truth which barely saves them from the charge of insanity. As a
matter of fact, we do pin our faith to each other's sleeve. Lot believes
in Abram, the weak believe in th& strong ; we all follow our respective
captains and leaders. Abram was the minister of God to all about him.
Had his faith gone down, the whole company would have been disorganised ;
his followers were courageous in his courage, and hopeful in his hope.
We thiuk it a great honour to be set so high in the service of God ; it
is so truly, yet it must be a burdensome responsibility, and often a
pricking thorn, for those who follow can bring reproach and calumny to
bear upon Abram and Moses and the chosen servants of God. There is

THE CALL OF ABRAM. 337

a temptation foi' Lot to imagine himself as good as Abram, and in that
imagining is the explanation of many of the petty torments which fall to
the lot of men whom God has taken into His secret counsel.

The Abrams of society often have a difficult task. They cannot always
explain themselves fully. Sometimes they cannot even vindicate them-
selves, nor can they account for circumstances which bear heavily against
them. They live a separate life. They have secret intercourse with
God. The translation of things heard in heaven is always difficult and
often impossible.

7 And the Lord appeared unto Abram, and said, Unto thy seed will I give thia
land : and there builded he an altar unto the Lord, who appeared unto him.
8 And he removed from thence iinto a mountain on the east of Beth-el, and
pitched his tent, having Beth-el on the west, and Hai on the east : and there he
builded an altar unto the Lord, and called upon the name of the Lord. 9 And
Abram journeyed, going on still toward th^ south.

We shall be much comforted in this pilgrim life if we think of God's
relation to places, habitations, countries, and geographical positions.
The wilderness and the garden are God's ; the fountain and the stream
are directed in their course by the creating mind. Men are not here
and there by haphazard. Cities ai'e not founded by mere chance.
Before the city there was a process of reasoning ; before the process of
reasoning there was Divine suggestion — geography, as well as astron-
omy, is of God. " The earth is the Lord's." I would be where God
wills : with His blessing the desert shall be pleasant as the frvutful field ;
— without it the fruitful field shall mock the appetite which it tempts,
and the river shall become as blood in my mouth.

Abram set up his altar along the line of his march. Blessed are they
whose way is known by marks of worship. The altar is the highest
seal of ownership. God will lightly forsake His temples. This setting up
of the altar shows that our spiritual life ought to be attested by outward
sign and profession. Abram had the promise in his heart, yet he did
not live a merely contemplative life ; he was not lost in religious
musings and prophesyings — he built his altar and set up his testimony
in the midst of his people, and made them sharers of a common worship.

10 And there was a famine in the land : and Abram went down into Egypt to
sojourn there ; for the famine was grievous in the land. 11 And it came to pass,
when he was come near to enter into Egypt, that he said unto Sarai his wife,
Behold now, I know that thou art a fair woman to look upon : 12 Therefore it
shall come to pass, when the Egyptians shall see thee, that they shall say, This is

338

THE CITY TEMPLE.

his wiie : and they will kill me, but they will save thee alive. 13 Say, I pray
thee, thou art my sister : that it may be well with me for thy sake; and my soul
shall live because of thee.

Showing what the best of men are when tliej betake themselves to
their own devices. As the mini.ster of God, Abram is great and noble ;
as the "architect of his own fortune," he is cowardly, selfish, and false.
I seek for no palliation of such conduct ; it invites and deserves male-
diction and vengeance. In our own life we know what it is to have
great faith and great unbelief. Abram went out at God's bidding, cheer-
fully encountering all the trials of pilgrimage in unknown places, yet he
cannot trust God to take care of his wife. How little are the greatest
men ! If we are never stronger than our weakest point, we should take
heed lest in our jiroud sufficiency the dart strike us in the vulnerable spot.
It is a bad thing to rack our brains for excuses on behalf of the Bible
worthies when they fall ; if God did not excuse them, we need not stretch
our chai'ity into a covering for their sins. A lie was twice a lie in the
mouth of a man like Abram. Where there was great grace there shoiild
have been great courage. We are not to qualify the disgrace by talking
about spots in the sun ; we are to call poison poison, and to learn by the
failures of other men that our own life -svill be called to trials which
•will need higher sti-ength than merely human power.
The last three verses of the chapter are these : —

18 And Pharaoh called Abram, and said, What is this that thou hast done unto
me? why didst thou not tell me that she was thy wife ? 19 Why saidst thou, She is
my sister ? so I might have taken her to me to wife : now therefore behold thy wife,
take her, and go thy way. 20 And Pharaoh commanded his men concerning him :
and they sent him away, and his wife, and all that he had.

In this matter Pharaoh was a gi-eater, a nobler man than Abram,
Natural nobleness ought never to be underrated. Why begrudge to
the heathen a nobleness which was as surely of God as our own Christian
excellence ] There are men to-day who make no profession of Christian
faith, whose honour, straightforwardness, and generosity would p\it to
shame many who claim a good standing in the Church. I make this
statement without reservation ; yet it must be explained that it is not
through Christianity, but for the want of it, that professors are humbled
before men of the world ; and it must be added, that men of natural
elevation of temper and sentiment would attain a still intenser lustre by
the possession of that life in Jesus Christ without which all other life is

THE CALL OF ABKAiL 339

either artificial or incomplete. Christianity does not equalise the character
of all men, any more than the sun equalises the value of all trees. There
are Christians who are barely saved from being devils, and if they are
this with Christianity, what would they be without it % Christianity is
not to be judged by the lowest, but by the highest. We should not judge
the repute of a medical hospital by the attainments of a student who has
been scarcely a month within its walls ; it would be u.nfair to jiidge the
master by the apprentice ; why, then, seize upon an immature professor
of the Christian religion, and judge Christianity by bis imperfect and
tottering character % We admire Pharaob in the case before us ; we
Uke the clear, steady tone in which he remonstrates with the culprit j
yet natural openness and honourableness of disposition must not be valued
as a substitute for the renewed life which is wrought in men by God
the Holy Ghost.

This incident shows that God calls men to special destinies, and that
life is true and excellent in itself and in its influences only in so far as it
is divinely inspired and ruled. "• Whosoever he be of you that forsaketh
not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple." The great demand is made
vi^oxi. faith. Life is to be spiritual ; not made up of things that can be
counted and valued, but of ideas, convictions, impulses, and decisions that
are divine and imperishable. The world of faith is lai-ge, and rich, and
brilliant. Those who live in it dominate over all lower worlds. They
have their peculiar sorrows, yet they are strong enough to say, " Our
light affliction^ which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more
exceeding and eternal weight of glory while we look not at the things
Avhich are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things
which are seen ai'e temporal, but the things which are not seen are
eternal." Have we received the call of God 1 Has God left us without
command or promise 1 No ! Every man of us has heard the command
to repent and believe the gospel, and our destiny depends upon the
answer we return. We are called to honour^ glory, and immoi-taUty in
Christ Jesus ; let us awake and pursue our rugged but ever upward way !

In view of this incident men may fitly ask themselves at whose call they
are proceeding in life ? No man is at liberty to stray away at the bidding of
his fancy, iipsetting the order of civilization and inflicting discomfort upon
all who are connected with him merely to gratify a whimsical curiosity.
Society is founded upon order. Permanence is a condition of healthy

340 THE CITY TEMPLE.

growth. On the other hand, where men are called of God to go forth,
it should be theirs instantly and gladly to obey, how dark soever or stormy
the night into which they move. Life is a discipline. Shrewd men
say they want to know whither they are going before they set out on a
journey ; but men of higher shrewdness, men of Christian faith, often go
out into enterpi'ise and difficulty without being able to see one step before
them. The watchword of the noblest, truest souls is "to walk by faith,
not by sight ;" faith has a wider dominion and a more splendid future.
I call upon Christian young men to show the practical strength of faith.
Don't pick your trembling steps across the stones pioneers have laid for
you ; be your own pioneers, make your own ways, and show the origi-
nality and high daring of profound trust in God. I dare say you may be
afraid of rashness — you are partly right, yet it is possible you may
hardly know what rashness is. It is certain that the world is deeply
indebted to its rash men, its first travellers, its leading spirits. Prudence
(in its ordinary but most inadequate sense) has done very little for the
world except to tease and hinder many of its masters and sovereigns ; it
would have kept back every mariner from the deep, and deterred every
traveller from the desert — it would have piit out the fires of science, and
clipped the wings of poetry — it would have kept Abram at home, and
found Moses a comfortable settlement in Egypt. Beware of imprudent
prudence j it will lull you to sleep, and bring you to a nameless and
worthless end. Make heaven your aim !

" Complain not that tlie way is long —
What road is weary that leads there ?
But let the angel take thy hand,
And lead thee up the misty stair.
And there with beating heart await,
The opening of the golden gate. "

C|e Ciig €tm^h.

A Discourse delivered by

JOSEPH PAEKEE,

In the Poultry Chapel, on Thursday Morning, April 28th, 1870.

ON DIFFERENT WAYS OF DWELLING.

" Dwell deep Dwell without care Dwell alone."— Jer. xlix. 30, 31,

I WISH it to be distinctly understood that these words are about to be
treated strictly by way of accommodation, not of critical exposition.
They may enable us to say something about methods of life, and help us
to conduct a process of wise self-examination. They divide the subject
so clearly that no attempt need be made to secure a better arrangement.
Let us regard the several divisions rather as exhortations than descrip-
tions— we are thus exhorted to " dwell deep," " dwell without care,"
and " dwell alone."

" Dwell deep : " have great principles at the very base of your character ;
have root in yourselves ; see that you are not mere waifs and strays, the
sport of every wind, but that you have laid hold of the very substance
of life so firmly that not even storms may be able to shatter or destroy
your being. Depth of life is not mystery of life ; it is not unreasoning
hope ; it is intelligence, it is faith, it is reality. In all great buildings
there is a good deal of unseen work. No matter how glittering the
pinnacle, if the foundation be insecure, its glittering eminence is only
so much danger. Reputation is the outward man, character is deep as
the very life. What if our reputation be as the j^erishing scent of a
frail flower, instead of the strength of a tree, whose roots have laid hold
of the very fatness of the earth, and laced themselves upon the im-
moveable rock ]

I feel warranted in urging this exhortation to deep-dwelling especially
upon the attention of the young. There is much temptation in the

32

342 THE CITY TEMPLE.

other direction. "VTe are invited by the spirit of the times to dwell on
the surface. To dig deep is to go against the age. To think about
foundations is to think away from the importunity of custom. The
young man of to-day must take care, or he -will descend towards
narrowness and poverty of character. All skaters are not navigators.
It is one thing to skim over a frozen pond, and another to sail upon the
troubled deep. A bottle is not full because it bears a label. The chaf-
fering sparrow has as many wings as the eagle, but he cannot dip them in
the same burning glory. A swaling candleis not to be mistaken for a comet.
Men do not find in mushrooms the beams of which ships are built. We
must distinguish between things that differ. Young men should strive
less after ornament than depth of chai^acter. They must do the rough
work of digging before they attempt the decorative work of papering
and painting. If you are going to build a house, you don't begin with
the painter and gilder. Alas ! in building a life, many youths are content
to dispense with the work that gives stability and duration. A paste-
board hut will do — yes, do, until it is borne off by the mocking winds,
never to be seen again. I don't count your virtues by your buttons.
Some men are all coat and no character : others read no book but the
looking-glass : others mistake the mystery of an echo for the originality
of a voice. A sad sight is a shallow young man — the dupe of a false
gentility, or the slave of a fiery passion. He may look well, and yet be
I bad. He may advertise his tailor, yet disgrace his schoolmaster. Or,
he may know much and yet he nothing. I have heard of a man who
knew twenty-five languages, but never said anything worth hearing in
any of them. It is one thing to talk about a ladder, and another to
ascend it. It is one thing to know the road, and another to travel
it. You may put books into you as men put hay into sacks ; or you may
vitalise them and reproduce them in blessed life. " Dioell deep : " young
man, keep thine heart with all diligence ; see that thy principles are
right ; let the flying fashions of a deceitful world go, and stand fast by
the convictions that will be as a rod and a staff in the dark hour.
" Dwell deep : " the storms will try us all ; the winds will rise, the winter
will send upon us its bitter cold, the floods will descend ; then, blessed are
they only who are founded upon a rock ! I do not attempt to define
the precise position you should occupy, but I urge you to be intelligent,
consistent, and earnest in your convictions and habits. Be able to give a
reason for the faith and hope that are in you. Be true. You may not
be great, but you can be real. Your voice may be feeble, yet your

ox DIFFERENT WAYS OF DWELLING. 343

testimony may be distinct. I know of no more hopeful sign for a
nation than that its young life should be devoutly in earnest. Let
young men be given up to frivolous pursuits, let them ignore the claims
of decided principles, let them be swayed by an uncertain and accom-
modating expediency, and the nation has already begun to decline ; on
the other hand, where young men are intelligent, magnanimous, resolute,
they will carry the nation through every crisis and cover it with the
glory of successful battle. Young men who hear me this day, let my
mouth be unto you as the mouth of the Lord of Hosts !

No life can be truly deep that is not truly religious. Flippancy can
never secure the best purposes of life. We must have veneration, and
veneration directed to the highest objects, if ever we are to test our
capacity and carry it to the ultimate point of improvement. Religion
binds us to the infinite ; it challenges our strongest powers ; it lures
even weakness itself towards might and courage ; it speaks the word of
hope and inspiration when we imagine that our whole task is exhausted.
1 claim for religion the highest influence upon the intellectual faculties :
education may, so to speak, give them feet, but religion gives them
wings ; and if, for a time, religion seems to abash and humble the mind,
it is that afterwards it may give it a wider charter and stir it by a
mightier impulse. Let us ask oui'selves a few questions on this point.
What is our religion 1 Is it something assumed or something real 1 Is
it one with the soul or is it a mere adjunct 1 Does it bear us above all
feai', or does it but vary our torment 1 Are we shamed away from our
profession by every taunt flung at us by the audacious mocker 1 By our
answers to such questions as these, we shall best know whether we
" dwell deeply " or merely cling to the treacherous surface. The young
must not suppose that in being definite in their faith they cannot
also be progressive. Elders, too, must be reminded that digging deeply
is quite compatible with building beautifully and loftily. A man is not
to be commended because he builds his house towards the cold north ;
nor is he to be praised because he chooses windows that are low and
narrow, and puts them all on the shady side of the house. Dig deeply,
but build so as to receive the blessing of the sun and the salutation of
the living breeze. Let your foundations be strong, but don't shrink
from originality of architecture : be definite in your plan, yet liberal in
your execution. What is meant by the exhortation to dig deeply *? It
is that we may find the Stone, " disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of
God and precious." The foundation is laid. Did ye never read in the

344 THE CITY TEMPLE.

Scriptures, " The stone whicli the builders rejected, the same is become
the head of the corner V To dwell in Christ, is to dwell deeply. To
be hidden in the very life of Christ, is to dwell deeply. To be vitally
interested in the never-ceasing intercession of Christ, is to dwell deeply.
To be the temples of the Holy Ghost, is to dwell deeply. " For this
cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, that
He would gi-ant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be
strengthened with might by His Spirit in the inner man ; that Christ
may dwell in your hearts by faith ; that ye, being rooted and grounded
in love, may be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth,
and length, and depth, and height ; and to know the love of Christ,
which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of
God."

" Dwell without care." We may accept this exhortation in two dif-
fering yet coincident senses. We are not to dwell carelessly : yet we
are not to dwell fearfully ; our independence of care is to arise from our
trust in the love and sufficiency of God. It is possible to dwell without
care, simply because we undervalue life ; it is possible to dwell without
care, because we hold life in subjection to the Divine will and in perfect
confidence in Divine love. The apostle Paul says, "Be cai'eful for
nothing : " Peter says, " Casting all your care upon Him, for He careth for
you." It is in this sense that we ai'e to live without care. " Cast thy
burden upon the Lord, and He shall sustain thee : He shall never suflfer
the righteous to be moved." If we care for God, He will care for us-
It is hardly needful to go over the ground of definition and caution,
usually pointed out in treating of this method of life. I need not speak
against carelessness, against extravagance, or against stoicism ; we are
flgi'eed upon all this side of the case. What is wanted is power to
i-ealise in consistent and beneficent life our loving faith in God's supre-
macy and compassionateness. It is distinctly taught in the Scriptures
that our first business is with the kingdom of God and His righteousness.
Men who commit themselves to this business cast themselves on the
whole breadth of God's exceeding great and precious promises. They
invite God to help them — nay, more, they address the importunate
challenge of their love to Him, and in doing so they must succeed. "O
fear the Lord, ye His saints : for there is no want to them that fear Him.
The young lions do lack and sufier hunger : but they that seek the Lord
shall not want any good thing." When we dwell without care, our

ON DIFFERENT WAYS OF DWELLING. 345

independence refers, not to the essence, but to tlie accidents of life. Our
care begins and ends with God. We must be right with Him. The
soul being right, the outward condition becomes of no moment. To be
right with God is to sit upon His throne, and to view the affairs of life as
God views them ; to regard them in their entirety, and to be superior to
their influence. Does he dwell without care who dwells without reason 1
Here is a man who boasts that he gives himself no concern about the
difficulties of life ; he takes things as they come ; if they come simnily,
he gives them welcome ; if threateningly, he winks at their frowning,
and waits until they look better ; he does not know what it is to spend
a sleepless night, and as to meeting trouble half way, he smiles at the
suggestion as a kind of practical joke. He is not unwilling that other
people should work for him, if they are foolish enough so to do ; if they
Lave no other amusement, he does not begrudge them this innocent
pastime ; he expects things to be ready just when he wants them, and
if they be not ready it never occurs to his well-regulated and serene
mind that the blame may in some degree be chargeable upon himself.
He may languidly admit that things are occasionally awkward, yet he
can sing his fool's carol even in the face of the east wind, and take
his sluggard's slumber on the roughest places of the bleakest road.

The uncarefulness to which the Christian is called is an expression of
profound trust in his Heavenly Father. Let this be repeated again and
again, that Christian serenity may be protected from the charge of
stoicism ; and that Chxistian faith may not be confounded with coarse
and defiant presumption. We are distinctly called to uncarefulness, and
our call is addressed to us in the most tuneful and persuasive manner.
The duty is founded upon a promise — a voluminous and all-inclusive
promise ; we are summoned by the voice of music, we ax-e inspired by the
glad spirit of hope. Hear the proof of these assurances : " Take no
thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink ; nor yet
for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and
the body than raiment 1 Behold the fowls of the air : for they sow not,
neither do they reap, nor gather into barns ; yet your Heavenly Father
feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they 1 Consider the lilies
of the field, how they grow ; they toil not, neither do they spin ; yet I
say unto you, that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one
of these. Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to-day
is, and to-morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe
you, O ye of little faith V We are called upon to give living illustration

346 THE CITY TEMPLE,

of these principles, and are to remind ourselves that such illustration is
often very subtle in its expression and influence. An impatient tone
may betray us. An anxious look may dishonour the Master. One
fretful action may becloud the lustre of our faith. "What manner of
persons, then, ought we to be, in all stedfastness, tranquillity, and
cheerfulness ! Ought not we to lead the music of the world ] Ought not
the peace of the very God of Peace to rule in our hearts, and to show
itself in a blessed calm in all the relations of our trying life 1 What is
the meaning of the wrinliled brow — the apprehensive eye— the hesitating
tone ; — are not these tlie signs of unbelief, the signature and token of an
evil supremacy'? All our uneasiness is a reflection upon Gods goodness.
Every assertion of our own strength is distrust of Omnijiotence. O ye
who are watched by the eye that needs no sleep, and that makes day for
itself even where the darkness is deepest — ye guarded ones around whom
stand the ministers of God as the mountains stand round about Jerusalem
— ye who are named in the covenant which God made with his Son, and
for whom the Son is waiting in the heavens, consider your high calling,
and by the confidence which you have in God show the world that they
who care for God escape the corrosion of profane anxiety !

" Dioell alone." By this exhortation is not intended a call to hermitic
seclusion, to misanthropy, to churlish loneliness, or the like. We need
not pause to point out how such an exhortation would ofiend all our
social instincts, and uj)set everything that endears man to man. Yet
the exhortation may be so interpreted as to make its application of the
most excellent advantage to us. Sociality may become dissipation.
Even sworn friends may see too much of one another. The pastor may
be too much amongst his people. Neighbours may be too often on their
neighbours' threshold. I wish to teach distinctly, what I myself have
enjoyed most deeply, that solitude is needful to the highest culture
of life. Avoid the crowd. Be independent of artificial excitement.
Have resources in yourselves ; specially, walk with God ! Shallow and
tormenting is the life which is often led in great cities. Think of
a man measuring his enjoyment by the number of dinner invitations
which he holds ; think of a woman measuring her life by yards of satin,
by concerts, dances, and promenades ! Yet this is done. There are men
in London who never open a book. There are women, even in this centre
of the world, who from year's end to year's end never utter a serious
or really sensible sentence. Society seems to be given up to excitement.

ON DIFFERENT WAYS OF DWELLING. 347

Paint, gilt, noise, show — these are the idols of to-day's civilization. To
have " been out" somewhere is the proof of having enjoyed life. If I
might pi-esume to offer advice to men of business, T should earnestly say,
As often as possible get beyond the reach of letters, newspapers,
telegraphs, controversies, politics, and all other exciting and vexatious
influences, and accustom yourselves to ?/our oion society. Get away to
a distance, and look upon daily life as it really is. Don't fear to look at
your past course, and to review with the severest criticism the main
positions you have from time to time assumed. So long as you are in
the thick of the fight, you cannot see things as tliey really ai'e. You
mistake distances and proportions. You cannot see the range of the
various movements that are taking place around you. Go to the hill-
top ; vary your fighting with meditation, for the best battles are often won
by thought. To be always in the crowd is not to live, it is but to
struggle. Publicity irritates and wastes life. It is possible to live so
much in public as to be actually afraid to be alone ! Yes ; I am quite
serious in sayiug so. There are gi-eat bankers, merchants, speculators,
who dare not keep company with themselves ; they are frightened when
the door shuts out the last visitor ! They will not read, they dare not
think, they cannot pray ! Such men are the helpless victims of circum-
stances. The cruel lash is never off their back. The tyrant will
not let them stand still. Like the child's top, they can now only
spin so long as they are whipped. To be drunk with such excitement
is to suffer from the most deadly intoxication.

In recommending solitude, it must not be supposed that I am
recommending melancholy or morbid brooding. Loneliness may quite
as easily become a mischief as a blessing. When we seek to be alone, it
should be that our view of the Father may be more distinct and
impressive. Jesus Christ sought retirement that He might renew His
strength : on the solitary hill He was preparing for the busy city ; His
midnight prayer was preparatory to His mid-day beneficence ; when He
was alone. He was least alone. We must never seek for the loneliness
which sliuns the Divine presence, for if we find it we find the devil
clothed in redoubled power. Godless solitude is often the forerunner of
suicide. It is favourable to the pressure of evil suggestions. It is
destitute of the elements which save the mind by actually distracting it.
Beware of godless solitude — it is as the very gate of hell !

As earnestly as I caution you against godless solitude, I would exhort
you to avail yourselves of the retirement which will bring you, as it

348 THE CITY TEMPLE.

were, face to face with God. We need repose. We cannot always live
in tlie tempest. We must now and then talk to our own hearts, and
make the acquaintance of our own souls. Is it a creditable state of
society in which men seldom see their own little children in consequence
of the unceasing hurry and drive of business? In the early morning
they leave their little ones asleep, in the late evening they return to
find them asleep again ; and all day long the men themselves have not
had one hour's quiet commimion with their own hearts ! This is
suicide ! It is not the suicide of rope, or steel, or poison ; it is not
followed by coroners' inquests or startling announcements in news-
papers, but it is suicide for all that ! " Man cannot live by bread
alone." When he attempts to do so, he makes a covenant with death
and a sure bond with hell : he feeds the animal at the expense of the
spiritual ; he spends a lifetime in digging his own grave, and all his days
are but a swift journey to the pit.

I don't know that more need be added, except to repeat the exhorta-
tion, " Dwell deeply : Dwell without care : Dwell alone." Dwell
deeply/, by living, moving, and having your being in God : dwell without
care, by casting your burden in childlike trust upon the Lord : dtoell
alone, by being independent of the deceitful excitements which dazzle
only that they may destroy. Dwell deeply, and the years shall never
waste your power ; dwell without care, and your strength will be ready
for the highest uses ; dwell alone, and your fellowship will be with the
Father and with His Son Jesus Christ. Blessed One, who hast all life
in Thy keeping, enrich us with heavenly strength, save us from all the
temptations of earthly anxiety, and when we shut out the world may we
be shut in with Thee ! We would establish our house upon the Eock :
we would put our confidence in God : we would dwell in the hallowed
silence which helps us to hear Thy footstep. Go with Thy servants
to their several engagements, give them much wisdom and strength,
show them the poverty of this world and the riches of Thy kingdom,
and may they instantly and thankfully choose the better part !

C|e Cilg €tm^lL

A Discourse deliveeed by

JOSEPH PAEKEE,

In the Poultry Chapel, on Thursday Morning, May 5th, 1870.

ON" GOD'S POWER THE COMFORT OF HIS PEOPLE.

' ' Hast thou not known ? hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the
Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, faiuteth not, neither is weary ? there ia
no searching of his understanding. " — Isaiah xl. 28.

These words are addressed to the despondent, and at tlie first sound of
them it would appear as if those who were cast down were spoken to in
a voice of tliunder. It would appear also as if a softer tone were better
adapted to the condition of the persons referred to in the context, viz.,
those who were mourning God's absence, and sighing over the unwelcome
lot which has come upon them. But this great interrogation seems as if
the very thunder had taken in charge God's defence and man's elevation.
Hast thou not known 1 hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God,
the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth fainteth not,
neither is weary 1 Sometimes the voice of consolation seems to come to
us out of the depths of God's heart ; sometimes it is as if comfort were
spoken to us in a whisper. Oftentimes God says He will not address us
by the earthquake, and the stormy wind, and the rending fire, but He
will come to us in an undertone, and find us out by the persuasive,
gentle, penetrating pleading of His love ; but here it is as if the Com-
forter stood above all created heights and thundered down from them
upon the weary, and the desponding, and the faint-hearted. The terms
by which God is described are not what may be termed the gracious
designations which are often employed to describe Him ; it is not the
Father, the Redeemer, the Gentle One ; it is the everlasting God, the
Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, as if Divine comfort were not
a sentiment only, as if Divine comfort does not come only out of the

33

360 « THE CITY TEMPLE.

Divine emotions, but pours itself down upon us from all that is majestic,
dominant, mighty, immeasurable, royal, and grand in the Divine nature.

Then if He fainteth not, neither is weary, why should He rest 1 God
rested, and set up in the midst of time a Sabbath day. How so 1 The
word must not be interpreted to the disparagement of the great text that
is now before us. There are two conditions on either of which man may
rest, on one of which only does God retire from His work. The first
condition is completeness, the second is weariness. God finished His
work and rested. He rested because the work was finished ; we rest
because our jDOor little strength is wasted, and we sigh for the lengthening
shadow, and need to be recruited by sleep. God finishes His work, and
then He rests, Qot as one who is weary, but as one who has completed
his design. We shall rest one day in that higher sense ; in the meantime
we have left our column unfinished, we have left our book incomplete,
we have hurried away from our engagements, they are all waiting for us
to go back in an hour ; we rest because of an exhaustion of our strength,
but He who is yonder in the heavens, throned above all heights, rests
because His word is completeness — His efibrts are perfection.

** Hast thou not known ? " This is not a new revelation. Please to
observe that, lest you find here an excuse for despondency, and a sufficient
explanation of the plaintive and mournful tone to which your life is often
set. " Hast thou not known 1 hast thou not heard 1 " — it is an appeal to
memory, and that is a strong point in all the Divine pleading. We do
not read here for the first time that God fainteth not, neither is weary.
It is a mark of interrogation that is beautifully made a challenge of
recollection. Oiir memory is to be as the prophet of the Lord in our
life. Recollection is to be inspiration ; the forty years gone are a pledge
of the forty years to come. If we are clear upon this point I could stand
a long while here, and reason until I rekindled hope in every heart that
is sad and weary. I am not to argue a point with you that is very deep
in theology. I have only to come to your own life and awaken your own
memory — stir your I'ecollection. Hast thou not known 1 hast thou not
heard ] Let a man be faithful to his own recollections, and it is impos-
sible he can long be despondent, weary, and slow of heart to lay hold of
the great work and discipline of life. There is no heart in this house
that has not its own peculiar memories of the Divine strength and of
Divine interposition, of Divine interpretations of knotty questions in
life, and of Divine help in the hour of extremity, when sorrow was agony
and when agony was despair. And it is the preacher's strength that he
has to speak directly into people's hearts. He has not to argue some-
thing that is altogether outside of them, and that has no countei-part in
their own life and spirit. He has to speak truths that are to be
answered by the echoes of the heart, and every man is to say to him as
he proceeds from point to point in his high argument and winning per-

ON god's power the comfort of his people. 351

suasion, " Master, thou hast said the truth." Let us gather ourselves
around God's all-mightiness and God's all-knowingness, that we may be
comforted, and stimulated, and enriched.

Is God all-mighty 1 Then do not fear for the stability of His works.
We have no occasion to be afraid lest the sun should miss his way*
What guarantee have we that the stars shall glitter in their places ? Is
it because we appoint our watchmen that they come to smile and shine
upon us, pouring light into our dark hearts, and speaking hope into our
despairing and gloomy souls 1 ' What guarantee have we that the summer
is coming ] God's word. " Seed-time and harvest, summer and winter,
day and night, shall not cease." What guarantee have we 1 We have
little pieces of paper on which we write our I O U, and we have bonds
and covenants, and our strong rooms, in which we secretly and silently
lock up oiir pieces of precious paper. You say about any disputed
covenant. It is in the bond, it is so nominated in the bond. The bond is
all you have to rely upon. But we look for the continuance of these
things, the keeping up of God's great temple, because God's word has
been given, because God's sufficiency underlies, and encompasses, and
gives stability to all His works. And in this view of the case it is very
humiliating to meddlesome men — an exceedingly annoying thing — that
there are parts of creation, parts of our own creation, out of which we
are shut. How nice a thing it would be for some men of leisure, if they
were called upon to improve the stars a little, and to call up the seasons
one by one, and to say when it should rain, and when it should not rain,
and when the east wind should blow, and when the south-west wind
should pour its blessing on the rejoicing landscape ! God does not want
us there at all. He seems to be able to do quite without us there, and
it is wonderful how small a cage it is within which the vastest mind is
enclosed, and what very little pieces of work God asks any man to do in
the creation that is around him. He can dig a little, and plough a little,
and he can throw in his seed ; but he has no power to tell the sun when
to come and when to go, and in what degree of heat to .shine upon his
little gai'den or his paltry field. But we work because God is. We have
no fear of the stability of His works, and therefore we proceed from day
to day in procuring our daily bread, and setting in operation all the
forces that are needful for the cultivation alike of our bodily and mental
life. This is veiy humbling in one of its aspects, because we have
nothing whatever to do with all that is highest and grandest in the
creation. We are to do the servant's work. Let me see ; do not some
persons advertise that they object to menial employment 1 Menial em.
ployment ! Why, there is nothing but menial employment if we really
knew it, and yet no employment is menial if it be accepted from God's
hand, and wrought out according to the measure of His commandment
and the inspiration of His call.

352 THE CITY TEMPLE.

Is God all-mighty 1 Then have no fear about the realization of His
promises. Oftentimes it is difficult to see how certain promises are to
be realized. We have nothing to do with that whatever. God keeps
our hands off His promises quite as surely as He keeps them off His
stars, and if He won't let us intermeddle with His planets, and do our
little scrubbing and burnishing upon those great lights, He will not ask
us to have anything to do with the outworking and realization of His
promises. He asks that their fulfilment be left to Him, and afterwards
He will challenge our own life as the witness, and answer, and confirm-
ation of all that is gracious and all that is sure in the outworking of
His words of promise. You do not make so very much of it with all
your bonds, and guarantees, and assurances, and oaths. You really don't.
If you live in the paper and parchment region altogether, you live a poor,
shallow life. The greatest promises are moral promises, and I care not
how much paper a man may sign ; if his heart is wrong, he will swear
away his own signature. Yes, if he has not signed with his heart, it is
of poor account that, he has signed with his hand. He can look at his
signature and say it is his, and then work as if he had never written one
single letter of it. It is God's heart that comes down with His signature.
He has never dealt with us only by His hand. His hand has been the
servant of His heart ; because of His moral attributes all that He has
promised shall be fulfilled to the letter. No, no, not fulfilled to the
letter. What letter can hold God 1 The letter is only as the little river
bank, the great waters of His love will overflow all the limitations of the
most ambitious letter. God cannot be known by letters. They are but
as the hem of His garment, they lie a long way from His soul.

Is God all-mighty, all-mighty % Then do not imagine you can escape
His judgments. His lightnings find us out. His sharp spear penetrates
our secrecy. You have evaded Him now fifty years, and you think you
can do it fifty more. Believe me, as speaking the word of the Lord, yoio
cannot. Has the ox that has been driven into the fat pasture escaped
the knife ] Look at the noble animal there. Look at the rich grass or
clover, and see the sunshine falling upon the scene, and the ox says,
" I am at rest, I have escaped the knife of the slayer," not knowing that
the pasture is on the way to the slaughter-house, and that next to its
death stands the rich blessing of its life. There are many oxen that are
being prepared for the slaughter when they little think it.

Is God all-mighty 1 Then be assured that the throne of right shall
stand upon the ruins of all wrong ; but here God is apparently at a
disadvantage, because you cannot kill evil with the sword. The abolition
of evil is a work of time, requiring the combination, the conspiring
of innumerable moral influences and educational forces : but that con-
spiring is going on. The Lord is not slack concerning His promises, as
some men count slackness. The kings of the earth — those decorated

ON god's power the comfort of his people. 353

playthings, when not true men and kings in heart as well as in hand —
the kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel
together against the Lord, and against His Anointed, saying — this is
their bond — " Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their
cords from us." That is one side of the picture. What is the answer ?
He that sitteth in the heavens sitteth without agitation, discomposure,
or momentary apprehension. He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh
— what laugh ] The kings of the earth set themselves and the rulers
take counsel together ; they get up their little plot, and they are going
now to bring things their own way, and the great, quiet Sovereign of all
shall — what 1 — shake Himself, call His thunder, take down His spear %
No ! — shall laugh 1 Laugh — and no man survives the laughter of God's
derision ! A terrible thing it is to be laughed at by God ! Strike us,
reason us down, send angels to bind us, and in these humiliations we shall
find some little trib\ite to our greatness ; but, O God ! do not laugh at us.
When God sets the universe laughing at a man, where can the man find
rest 1 There is a poor outlook for those who are going to fight God !

God is not only powerful, also all-wise. There is no searching
of His understanding. Infinite strength would tei-rify us, but infinite
strength under the dominion of infinite mind recovers us from the
tremendous shock which comes of abstract, immeasurable, nnwasting
strength. The forces of nature are not lawless. Storms are more than
storms, as they appear to us. Behind them all is God's mind, God's
controlling, directing intelligence. The lightning does not come out at
its 'own bidding to smite the tree, and the tower, and the temple, and
to blight the prospects of man. The lightning always comes and
strikes, or passes on, at God's bidding, and under God's control. The
east wind is not sent to us by some spiteful power that takes delight
in withering np our strength ; it comes because the Lord hath need of it
in some sense or way.

Is God all- wise ? Then the darkest providences have meaning. We
will set ourselves as God's interpreters, and because we cannot make
straight lines out of our crooked lot we think that God has turned our
life into inextricable confusion. The darkest hours in our life have
some intent, and it is really not needful that we should know all at
once what that intent is. Let us keep within our own little sphere, and
live a day at a time, and breathe a breath at a time, and be content
with one pulsation at a time, and interpretation will come when God
pleases, and as He pleases.

Is God all-wise 1 Then His plan of salvation is complete and final,
and we shall waste our strength, and show how great is our folly, by all
attempts to improve the method of redemption and recovery of the world.
What is there of God's we can improve 1 Will you go out to-day and

354 THE CITY TEMPLE.

find any little plant that spring has thrown down already in the face
of winter, and improve it 1 Tiy it. You can surely make something
more out of a primrose than God has made. You could amend the
buttercup and the daisy. Try it. I shall not take you up into the
higher realms, but we will just keep on the grass, and see what we can
do down there. Is there a blade of grass in all the meadows of the
earth we can improve, looking at it as God constructed it, not as it
has been withered and destroyed in any degree, but as God made it.
Can you improve any one thing that God has made 1 Then why seek
to improve the method of salvation which He has set up according to
the revelation of His Holy Book, in the person and through the
ministry of His Son 1 I will not even stop to argue whether this is
God's Book or not ; I will take the method of salvation as it is here
declared, and rest the whole argument upon it. That will call you back
from wandering into any collateral questions as to whether -this is God's
Book or not. Improve what is laid down here, that God so loved the
world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on
Him might not perish, but have everlasting life. Improve it ! We
will not argue whether these words are what is called inspired or
not ; we will take them merely as words, take them as an idea, take
them as if the poorest wretch in all the world had spoken them, and
I ask you to improve those words if you can. Love, Divine love,
Divine love giving. Divine love giving its only begotten Son, that
whosoever believeth — not payeth, not worketh, not putteth out some
external strength, but believeth — should not perish, but have everlasting
life. I wonder any heart can hear these words without saying instantly,
" These words shall lie at the veiy root of my life ; I will live upon
them, and I ^^ill defy death in their strength." This congregation
ought to be converted instantly under the utterance of words so graphic,
so sublime, so tender, so far-reaching and all-blessing as these.

Is God all -wise 1 Then our individual life is all understood by Him.
That life is but dimly known to ourselves. We catch glimpses of it
here and there, but its scope and meaning ai'e still unrevealed to us.
We are often in shadow. There are scattered rays of light, but no
steady shining of the sun which protects vis from the mystery of much
darkness. It is enough that God knows our life, and that His wisdom
is pledged as our defence. . To-morrow is coming upon us, and we know
not with what messages and revelations, with what joys and troubles ;
but God is coming with it, and in His path is the brightness of
all-sufficient wisdom. We are quickened by the very mysteries of our
life : view them atheistically, and they become terrors and distresses
before which the most daring coui'age quails ; but regard them as under
the control of beneficent power, and an eye of gloiy opens in the very
centre of the gloom.

ON god's power the comfort of his people. 355

Is God all-wise 1 Then we have a guarantee of endless variety in
our future studies and services. God is ever extending our knowledge
of His works, in reward of the endeavoxxrs we are making to acquaint
ourselves with the wonders by wliich we are enclosed. We have found
nothing of niei-e repetition in His plans. Eacli star has its own glory,
each flower has a bloom and a figure peculiarly its own ; the very stones
are known by a distinctive impress. We have eternity before us — in
itself a terrible consideration, only tolerable when thought of in con-
nection with God's infinite wisdom : men grow weary when doomed to
continuous pursuit of one object; monotony depresses and enfeebles the
mind ; to think, therefore, of having to live eternally is in itself a
punishment, apart from the fact that no hour of the endless duration
shall be unblessed by the hallowed excitement occasioned by increasing
intelligence and deepening love. God will ever have something new to
communicate to the mind of His servants : secret after secret will be
given up to their possession ; realm after realm will be thrown open to
their investigation ; and when unnumbered ages have expired, the infi-
nite riches of Divine wisdom will be undiminished.

The subject, thus hurriedly sketched, forces upon us the solemn
inquiry — What is our relation to this Dread Being, whose power is
infinite, and whose wisdom is past finding out 1 We must sustain some
relation to Him. We are the loyal subjects of His crown, or rebels in
His empire. Pause, and determine the answer ! Everything depends
upon our relation to the Cross of Jesus Christ. Have we repented of
sin — have we poured oxit our hearts in rivers of contrition — have we
yielded our hearts in I'eply to the all-entreating and overwhelming argu-
ment of the Cross 1 You reverence God — that is not enough ; you are
lost in admiration of His marvellous 2)ower as shown in the courses of
nature — that is not enough ; you see proofs of His existence and
government in every leaf of the forest — that is not enough ; these things
have no relation to sin, they do not recover our lost sonship, they leave
untouched the blackest and saddest facts of our life !* Nature itself,
brilliant and tuneful, is but a mocking mystery apart from the Cross — it
is a lustrous grave, a prison under the name of a palace, a land of
captivity and sorrow. Souls are not saved by studying the works of
nature. Astronomy and geology, botany and chemistry, have no
redeeming message for hearts burdened with a sense of guilt ; we must
go further and go deeper, a cry must be sent up to the dwelling-place of
the Most High. O God, save us ! O God, be merciful unto us ! O God,
i"edeem us from the slavery and torment of sin ! And whilst we are yet
speaking, a voice addresses the anxious heart — "Behold the Lamb of
God which taketh away the sins of the world." That is what we want !
That is sweet as morning light to men who have long sat in great
darkness, and precious as the voice of the Deliverer to bondsmen who

356 THE CITY TEMPLE,

have desired to die. And is there not a word of encouragement for
those who are rejoicing in the forgiveness of sins? We are saved from
fear. We have the freedom of the City of God. In moments of
exhaustion we look vinto the hills whence cometh our help — in times of
embarrassment we take counsel with Divine wisdom Be strong in the
Lord, and in the power of His might. What time I am afraid, I will
trust in God. The Lord is my light and my salvation, whom shall I
fear 1 The Lord is the strength of my heart, of whom shall I be afraid 1
We are called nnto trust. We are entitled to exult in the goodness and
majesty of God. Ours is to be no dejn-essing religion, but a religion of
boundless joy. Our springs are not in ourselves : we hew no broken
cisterns to oui'selves ; we undertake not o\ir own affairs ; we dwell in the
security of God's power, aud as for wisdom, we ask and receive. My
message is to troubled men — to troiibled hearts — to desponding souls ;
and how graciovis is the reviving word ! True, it is uttered as if through
the trumpet of thunder, yet its tones soothe and inspire the soul. Let
us arise from our hiding-places, and serve the Lord with renewed power ;
He waits to gather us into HLs infinite strength and to make iis wise
■with perfect understanding.

Eternal One, we are filled with joy in this Thy house ; our hearts are
made exceeding glad, and our comfort is as an overflowing river. Thy
power is not a terror to us — the shadow of Thy majesty does not fill
us with dread — we see Thee in the blessed Saviour, and are made more
than conquerors through Thy gracious power. Save us from self-trust
and help us to know how good it is to put our confidence in our Mighty
Father, and to be at rest because Thou art working for us. Thou art
a covert from the storm — Thou art a sure defence — Thou art the
salvation and joy of Thy people. O God the Father, O God the Son,
O God the Holy Ghost, come to us, and make us holy, and wise,
and strong. Amen.

Clje €H^ Cnitjih.

NOTES OF A DISCOURSE

DELIVERED BY

JOSEPH PAEKEE,

In the Poultry Chapel, on Fkiday Evening, May 6th, 1870,
on behalf of the irish evangelical society.

ON ORGANIZATION, AGGRESSION, AND EDUCATION.

' ' He sent princes, and with them he sent Levites, and with them priests, and
they taught in Judah, and had the book of the law of the Lord with them, and
went about through all the cities of Judah, and taught the people." — 2 Chron.
xvii. 7—9.

Here we have organization, aggression, and education. We may make

something viseful of these points, now ^that we are entering upon a

season of Christian anniversaries, looking at our work, and stimulating

one another in the ways of the Lord. In the first place, let iis say

a word about organization. The scheme which is outlined in the

text commends itself very strongly to my judgment, because it was

originated and directed by one man. I believe in a committee of one.

I should upset centi'alization by individuality. Once set Christian

people to move and second resolutions, to propose amendments, and

elaborate bye-laws, and the chances are they will forget the main work

to which they have professedly set their hands. Ornamental committees

will riiiu any cause. Of course we must have organization, and to

a certain extent we must have mutual criticism ; but let these be kept

at the lowest possible point, and let individual strength and devotedness

be encouraged to the utmost. Nothing could tempt me to be secretary

to some committees : the legislative pottering, the ridiculous fear of

a hundred grim possibilities, the proud sagacity of some, and the

34

358 THE CITY TEMPLE,

trembling timidity of others, would disqualify me for service. Get
the right man, trust him, cheer him, give him to feel that great things
are expected of him, and give him further to feel that his failures
will be regarded with brotherly sympathy, and you will reduce the
mischief of organization to a minimum, and carry up individuality to
its most effective point. Committees are not masters, but co-operators.
Directors are not employers, they are the brethren of the agents and
missionaries whose labours they direct. We cannot, in working out
our Christian plans, take the position which Jehoshaphat took in
Judab, but we can work towards it. Don't let us be frightened by
so-called tyranny : we are men, and men shovild never fear ; we are
Christians, and Christians lose their name when they lose their love. I
should be thankful if we could do without societies, but this is impos-
sible. Society should be another name for union, and union should
be the harmony of strength. Society is not organized criticism, it is
organized love. Committees are not debaters, they are servants working
out a holy covenant. My fear is lest we lose our sense of personal respon-
sibility when we join committees, as some men lose their consciences
when they enter joint-stock companies. Let iis remember that to fight
over a resolution is not to preach the gospel, and to vote by ballot is a
poor substitute for holding up the Cross. The Church did most when she
knew least about formal organization, about minute-books, about com-
mittees, and debates. As far as possible, let every man be his own agent
and his own missionary, and let him call in the aid of societies, not to
lessen his own work, but to give it greater breadth and power. Organi-
zation is beset with dangers. The man who does next to nothing takes
credit to himself for what has been done by the whole society : having
given his threepenny piece and exasperated various officials, he says,
with an air of chai'ming hypocrisy, " We have raised £1,000 this year."
This is not honest. It gives a false impression. It is one of the most
mischievous of lies, full of self-flattery and deceit. The men who
make such statements live on the reputation of others ; they do not
wear their own clothes ; they do not stand on their own feet.

I am not advocating personal effort at the expense of true union.
I say true union, because men may be really though not formally
united. The union is in the woik, not in the paper. Oneness of heart

ORGANIZ.VTIOX, AGGRESSION", AND EDUCATION. 359

is deeper and stronger than an alphabetical list of names. There is a
great deal of disunion vinder apparent concentration. Union of heart
will carry ns through all dangers, union of names will but multiply
our perils. I hold that the Church is one ; that the true unification
of Christendom is already accomplished ; and that })rayer for merely
outward union is misdirected and unavailing.

II. The commission organized by Jehoshaphat was aggressive. The
princes, the Levites, and the priests " went about through all the cities
of Judah." It was an itinerant ministry. The men did not stand in
one place and wait for the people to come to them ; they travelled ;
they entered town after town, like an invading army, and so compassed
all Judah. I am more and more persuaded that pastoral efibrt should
be supplemented by evangelistic efibrt. A pastoral ministry must
never be given up. It is right in principle, it is beneficent in influence.
Still we must have a travelling ministry as well. The Gospel is /
nothing if not aggressive. It must challenge attention ; it must lift .
up its voice amid all competitors. It does not wait for battle — it /
begins it. Wherever there is darkness, its glory is poured on the
gloomy scene ; wherever there is ignorance^ it sheds the light of know-
ledge. A Church shut up within its own four walls, singing its own
psalm, and enjoying its own edification, is not a Church of Christ :
it is a slander, it is a travesty, it is an ofi'ence to the Spirit of the
Cross.

It is commonly supposed that an inferior class of agents will do
for evangelistic work. This is a mischievous error. The best man
would not be out of place in the poorest district as a missionary.
There is no room anywhere for inefiiciency. The unfurnished workman
is out of place everywhere. The pioneer should be a burning and a
shining light. The herald .should be a man of distinctive character.

There is an aggressiveness which does more harm than good. I do
not believe in mere controversy. I would not make a direct attack
upon any false system of religion. If you would overthrow error, teach
truth. Don't debate— preach. Don't fight objections— proclaim the
forgiveness of sins, through Jesus Christ. Don't fight religious duels-
address the deepest wants of the human heart. My idea of aggression in

360 THE CITY TEMPLE.

Ireland is not to send a hundred men to argue against the Pope's
infallibility, or to abuse the ritual of the Romish Church. Let the
Pope alone ; let Ritualism alone ; study the adaptation of the Gospel
to human sin and sorrow, and preach it tenderly, with love and
urgency, and you will do good. The sun does not say that he will
not bring summer upon the earth until all weeds are pulled up ; he
brings in summer, notwithstanding the weeds. Our first work is not
argument against error, but the preaching of affirmative doctrine.
Thei'e are two ways of making aggression^one which means retalia-
tion, defence, malice ; another which means enlightenment, sympathy,
redemption. Ii-eland needs the latter. The most considerate, tender,
and delicate method of work is alone permissible in such a country
as Ireland. We don't want mere anti-Romanism, we want the glorious
gospel of the blessed God. Of course it is needful to know the whole
ground ; it is well to be prepared to meet special difficulties ; times do
arise when we must show our competency to discuss knotty questions in
divinity, and to turn certain controversial weapons upon those who use
them j but looking at the broad question of Christian aggression in
Ireland, let us first of all and best of all show the one way of salvation
through Jesus Christ, the blessed and mighty Saviour of the world.

There never was such an opening for aggression of this kind as there
is to-day in Ireland. The set time to favour her is come. She is
commencing a new volume of her tumultuous and romantic history.
She is looking about for definitions and illustrations of voluntaryism,
and we must supply them. Voluntaryism has been thought to be the
crotchet of a few ; we must prove it to be a law of God. Hitherto it
has been regarded as a motto upon sectarian banners ; we must show
that it is the superscription alike of the Cross and the Throne. It is
not enough to take down a church, we must set one up. The work of
destruction is only half a work. He is a poor gardener who merely
roots out the weeds. We have now to plough and to sow in Ireland ;
and by and by we shall have a season of reaping, and a long day of
special joy. We have had during the year thirty-one agents in Ireland
— shall we make them into a hundred 1 This would be one of the best
evidences of our thankfulness that everything like humiliating ascen-
dancy has been overthrown ; and, apart from some such evidence, we

ORGANIZATION, AGGRESSION, AND EDUCATION. 361

may be chargeable with incompleteness of service in the work of
I'eformation. Shall we raise a fund of ,£5,000, as a thank-offering and
a pledge 1 This would show how intense is o\ir Protestantism, and how
beneficent is our Christianity. To raise £5,000, as a thank-offering,
would have a happy effect upon all classes of Christian labourers in Ire-
land ; it would illustrate voluntaryism, it would explain Protestantism,
it would extend the sway of truth. Let this be the year of aggression —
and let the aggression be not mere wordy controversy, but a simple,
earnest, valiant testimony for Jesus Christ.

III. The commission which Jehoshaphat sent into the cities of
Judah was educational. Those who were sent took with them the book
of the law of the Lord, and tanght the people. What was the con-
sequence 1 " The fear of the Lord fell upon all the kingdoms of the
lands that were round about Judah, so that they made no war against
Jehoshaphat." Religious teachers are better than armies. To mag-
nify God is to take care of the nation. The humblest missionary may
be as a mighty soldier, and the obscui'est prayer-meeting may be as a
tower of defence, high and strong. To my inexpressible grief I find
certain persons anxious to legislate the Bible out of the way, or into
some exceptional hour ; I resent their efforts — I avoid their com-
pany. It is undoubtedly important to teach reading, writing, and
arithmetic ; but it is of infinitely higher consequence to teach the truth
that saves the soul. It will be a dark day for England when the Bible
is deposed to a secondary place in the education of her children. The
Bible has played no mean part in the history of Britain ; it may be
uninspired, but it has inspired the noblest men that have made the
England of to-day ; it may be a repertory of superstitious tales, but it
has broken the neck of oppression, and withered the arm of the tyrant ;
it may be beneath the attention of the " higher criticism," but it has set
Britain upon the throne of the nations. And now it is proposed to
allow it to be read at a special hour in the day, in the scliools of
England. This is progress backwards. This is putting out the light
which has given us distinction — this is cutting down the bridge which
has given us the lead of the world. One thing is certain ; if the Bible be
put into a corner in our day schools, we must give it higher honour in

362 THE CITY TEMPLE.

otlier directions ; Sunday-school teachers must be more intelligent and
zealous — ministers must teach the vital truths of Christianity more
constantly and convincingly — missionaries must be men of one book. I
am not to be understood as expressing a fear that the Bible will be
displaced ; that cannot be ; for a time it may seem to be so ; God will
take care of His testimony — not a little of it shall fail. Yet I am anxious
that we should make the 7)iost of the Bible, and not the least ; that
it should advance with our love, and not, prevail, in spite of our
indifference ; that professedly religious people should never be wanting
in practical public devotion to the writings which have made them wise
unto sdvation. I woiild cheer the heart of every man whose school is
illuminated by the presence of an open Bible. Your teaching will be
found to be the best in the long run ; the men you turn out will be the
surest explanation and defence of your system ; your ornamental work
may be comparatively small, but your substantial work will abide for
ever, I am hot with anger, when I think of ministers of the Gospel
— the sworn servants of the Blessed Christ — being willing that the Bible
should be excluded from the ordinary exercises of our day schools. It is
enough that the mere politician should take this ground — that the
Secularist (the man of one world, and that world all dust) should set
liimself against the Bible — but the Gospel minister, the man called of
Christ to save the world, should never be found otherwise than seeking the
Christian enlightenment of the youthful mind. As Christian Churches,
as ministers of the Gospel^ we have nothing to do with the teaching of
reading, writing, and arithmetic ; it is only because in connection with
such studies we may find opportunity to inspire young minds with
Christian truth that we are called upon as churches to take any part in
day-school instruction.

The agents of Jehoshaphat took with them the book of the law of the
Lord, and went about thi'ough all the cities of Judah, and taught the
jieople. We must have a Bil)lical ministry. We need for Ireland, as
for all the rest of the world, men who are mighty in the Scriptures.
The battle is not ours, but God's. The weapons are not carnal, but
spiritual. Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth.
The word of God is quick and powerful, and sharper than any two-
edged sword. We have not to make a Bible, but to expound one.

ORGANIZATION, AGGRESSION, AND EDUCATION. 363

We do not send out clever theorists, cunning reasoners, and sharp
debaters; we send out men in whose hearts the word of Chi-ist dwells
richly, and to whom that word is the true strength and joy of life.
If I might send a fraternal exhortation to the brethren in Ireland
who work in connection with this Society, I should say. Know your
Bible thoroughly. Keep to the record, prove your call and your work
by the book of the law of the Lord. You have to cope with trained
men, every crevice in your ai'mour will be detected ; logic, wit, sarcasm,
will be employed against you ; woe unto you if you go to the fight
in your own strength. " Take unto you the whole armour of God,
that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all
to stand. Stand, therefore, having your loins girt about with truth,
and having on the bi'eastplate of righteousness, and your feet shod
with the preparation of the Gospel of peace, above all taking the
shield of faith, and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of
the Spirit, which is the word of God."

• In connection with some advertisements I have seen the words,
" No Irish need apply." Brethren, in preaching the great salvation,
the Irish may apply. In telling of the fountain of life, the Irish may
apply. In making offer of all the blessings of salvation the Irish may
apply. " Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and
he that hath no money ; come ye, buy and eat ; yea, come, buy wine
and milk without money and without price." The reception of the
Gospel by Irishmen would be followed by the happiest, consequences,
so far as reproduction is concerned. In preaching the love of God
we want Irish enthusiasm, poetry, affection, fancy, and fervour. Others
"will not be wanting in erudition, in criticism, in logic ; the Irish may
help immensely by those characteristics which give them distinctiveness
among the nations, their urgency, warmth, hopefulness, and courage,
will find ample scope in the kingdom of Jesus Christ.

In pleading the cause of the Irish Evangelical Society, I have no
sci'uples of conscience and no restraints of judgment. Ireland is ours ;
not a neighbour, but a sister. She is a jewel in the English crown ;
let us see that her want of lustre is not due to our neglect. Ireland
is within easy reach, let not her nearness cause her to be overlooked.
Ireland has a religion, let us see that it is not a degrading superstition.

364 THE CITY TEMPLE,

Our ministerial friends in Ireland seem to me to have special claims
upon our sympathy. They are not surrounded by the darkness of
heathenism ; but is there not a denser gloom than the night which
covers the lands of idolatry 1 They are not far from the centre of
government, but is there not a rebellion which Acts of Parliament are
unable to subdue 1 They are in the midst of priests, but are all priests
servants of the one Saviour 1 What is true of the Irish ministry, is
also true in degree of the Irish Church. It is not easy to set yourself
against the traditions, the customs, and the spirit of a people. To us,
Protestantism is often a mere theory j to others it is a discipline, a
brand, a cross. It is one thing to survey Romanism from a distance,
it is another to breathe its very atmosj^here. Brethren, our heart's
desire and prayer to God for you is, that you may be upheld, comforted,
and strengthened by the Saviour, who knows your labour, and cares
for all your care. You are amongst the true pacificators of Ireland.
Your work does not bring with it immediately visible results, but in
the end it will be seen that teachers and preachers of the living word
are the true guardians and consolidators of liberty and progress.

Englishmen ! let your sympathy be drawn out towards Ireland. She
pleads with us to-night. Give her Christian truth, supply her house-
holds with Bibles, speak tenderly of her special difficulties, do not
insult her traditions, preach the Gospel of the love of God, hold
high the all-redeeming cross, and Ireland shall yet be, not in poetry,
but in fact — .

" Great, glorious, aud free,
First flower of the land, fii-st gem of the sea."

CIjc €xt^ Cnii||h.

A DISCOURSE

DELIVERED BY

JOSEPH PAEKEE,

In the Poultry Chapel, on Thursday Morning, May 19th, 1870.

GREATER WITNESS THAIS' JOHN'S.

"I have greater witness than that of John ; for the works which the Father
hath given me to finish, the same works that I do, bear witness of me, that the
Father hath sent me." — John v. 36.

Men ai-e often called upon to maintain their ground in society. Specially,
if a man do anything very extraordinary, and so draw attention to the
sphere of his operations, society will persistently raise the personal
question ; the man must give some account of himself — who is he 1
what are his claims ? on what foundation does he stand] It is not an
insignificant circumstance that men take deep interest in unusual mani-
festations of life ; it is rather a sign of their high origin and great
capacity. Is there any man who would not gladly increase his power,
extend the volume of his being, and carry to a higher intensity his
influence for good 1 This is the meaning of all study, and the end of all
prayer. All truly directed life is an effort after God. Men may not
always have the fact present to their minds ; yet, on reflection, they will
acknowledge that in proportion as they make sound progress in life they
work according to divine impulse and divine law. And, in proportion

35

3G6 THK CITY TEMPLE,

as they do so, they will occasion excitement and inquiry ; perhaps, also,
ungenerous criticism, and even malign action.

Strange as it may appear, thi^s is even so. Men are not always satis-

/ fied with the instruments and metliods which God adopts. They limit
the Holy one of Israel ; they appoint the chariots in which Hp shall
make the circuit of the universe; and if, rejecting these human vehicles,
He shall walk upon the wings of the wind, and make the clouds the
dust of His feet — if He pass by kings, and exalt mean men to His
ministry, if he refuse the silver trumpet, and elect the ram's horn — there
will be wonder and disappointment among those who are the victims of
their own blind and boastful conceit.

This method of criticism reached, of course, its highest application in
the case of Jesus Christ. It is very instructive, as well as very humi-
liating, to study the discussions which prevailed about His personality.
His authority, the seals and certificates of His ministry. The Jews
were the very impersonation of the ofiicial mind. The first thing to be
settled was descent or authority. Apart from this, all else was without
value. Their intellectual opei'ations, however exact in moving from
cause to efi^ect, seemed to be altogether unable to move from effect to
cause. They saw a lame man leaping with new-gotten strength, yet
they did not care to found an argument on the fact ; they saw diseased
men bloom with recovered health ; yet, when they turned to the great
worker, their eyes were dimmed by a puzzled and even angry prejudice.

i That worker was only Mary's Son ; He had a connection with Nazareth,
which vitiated His prophetic lineage ; or there was some other flaw
in His great claim to be heard and followed.

Is not the same kind of criticism active in our own day 1 Are we
not all, more or less, tempted to tiy men by some mei'ely technical
standard ] Do we not care more for the paper than the life, and believe
a man to be good because the paper says so ; or believe him to be bad,
because he has no paper to show 1 If the life of Jesus Christ should
have wrought one result above another upon merely literary readers, it

' should have exposed the insanity of denying a divine origin to divine
works. Let those who please demand the credentials of the sun ; but
be it our wisdom to believe that no testimony can be so convincing as
his own splendid and impartial light. This is a matter which I would

GREATER WITKESS THAN JOHn's. 367

wrge as of great importance. If men be looking for teclmicality where
they should be looking for life, they resemble thirsty travellers who
will not drink of a well imtil they have read the faded inscri]:)tion which
tells how it come to be a well at all. What say yon to such tnwellers 1
For many a day they have wandered along the dusty road ; their lips
are parched with thirst ; yet, when they they come to a well of water,
they ask who dug it 1 Who enclosed it ? What families have drunk of it ? '
Through what districts the water flows, or through what strata it rises?
The questions may not be altogether without importance, but life is more
important to all, and dying nature ignores every one of them, until its
burning thirst has been quenched. Now, Jesus Christ was as a well of
living water, and the men who were around him w^ere thirsty ; yet those
men put their small questions, and started their small objections, it being
of more importance that their notions should be satisfied than that their
lives should be saved ; and, blame them as we may, they were not tlie
only people who have sacrificed the living present on the altar of a dead
routine, or rejected a spiritual Saviour because He was not also a tem-
poral king.

Every man, then, it would appear, is asked for his testimonials. It
was the custom of the world, and Jesiis Christ must feel its influence.
Large testimonials were supposed to be valuable, but in the progress of
opinion it has been found that a man must be his own testimonial if he
is to establish himself as a fact in the world. By this is meant that a
man must not only sai/, but do ; the earnest heart must express itself in
the noble action, and the final ajipeal must be— "Believe me for the very
works' sake."

Jesus Christ said, "I have greater witness than that of John." Let
us imderstand this point. Jesus Christ does not despise the testimony '
of good men, nor does He teach His servants to do so. " There is
another that beareth witness of me; and I know that the witness which
He witnesseth of me is true .... He was a barninij and a shininjr
light." No man is at liberty to despise the opinion of good men. That
opinion should be prized on every ground, but specially as a stimulant
to a still higher life. The good man's word of encouragement helps us
many a time to recover heart when going up the hills of hard duty, and
^s often to us as a word immediately from God. At the same time testi-

368 THE CITY TEMPLE.

monials ai-e also often as the preface to a book ; the preface may be good,
■ but the book must stand upon its own merits. When the preface written
by a friendly patron is too highflown, the disadvantage accrues not to
himself but to the young author in whose interest it was mistakenly
written. There are men in England to-day who would be rich for evor,
if they could live upon testimonials. Their testimonials are their
greatest hindrances. Modest men shrink from the very idea of assisting
persons whose pedestal is so immense and imposing ; consequently the
great testimonial is but a millstone round the neck of its unfortunate
possessor. Jesus Christ said, " I receive not testimony from man ; "
Paul said, " It is a very small thing that I should be judged of you, or of
man's judgment ; " John said, " If we receive the witness of men, the
witness of God is greater/' We should want to know what a man is,
' and not what is said about Idm, to see his work, and not to read his
testimonial.

We are warranted in saying so by the words of the text, " the works
which the Father hath given me to finish, the same works that I do,
bear witness of me that the Father hath sent me." This was not the
only time that the same doctrine was laid down by Jesus Christ.
"When John had heard in the prison the works of Christ, he sent two of
his disciples, and said unto Him, Art thou He that should come, or do
we look for another % Jesus answered, and said unto them, Go and shew
John again those things which ye do hear and see : the blind receive
their sight and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear,
the dead are raised u]i, and the poor have the gospel preached to them."
My object in calling attention to this text is to enforce the doctrine that,
both in personal and ecclesiastical life, the grand and final appeal as to
authority, is to works. Tlie moral quality of the worker will be shown
in his whole conduct and service among men. There may, in some
instances, be crafty, and even successful simulation ; the holy word may
be spoken by the unclean tongue ; the good deed may be attempted by
the double-working hand ; but all this rather confirms the doctrine than
I opposes it, for no man would make base coin but for the value of the true
metal.

It is, perhaps, hardly necessary to detain you for a moment to say, that
I am not maintaining the doctrine of salvation by works ; there is no

GREATER WITNESS THAN JOHX'S. 369

such salvation that I am aware of, any more than there is navigation in
sand, or pedestrianisin on the sea. I refuse to regard salvation bv works
other than as a contradiction in terms, and I put it in this stron^^ way
that in a sentence I may have done with the suggestion once for all. A
man's testimony, as a professed servant of God, is to be found in his
works. Let a man prove his salvation by his holiness. If a man
should say that God sent him, let him prove his mission by his life
— having heard his word, we await his works.

Take the case of a Church. You profess to be divinely called, but
what is the proof 1 Don't refer me to a long line of illustrious
ministers, to a large and splendid sanctuaiy, or even to a dazzlincr
subscription list. Are you felt in the neighbourhood to be a power
for good ? Do you visit the widow and the fatherless in their affliction 1
Are you eyes to the blind and feet to the lame ? Do the poor bless you,
and those who are ready to perish hold you in grateful reverenced
I do not ask if the trust-deed be orthodox, if the music be scientific
if the seats be well let, if the congregation be genteel ; I ask if Jesus
Christ crucified be the inspiration of your labour, and Jesus Christ risen
the source of your power 1

If a man said he was eloquent, how would you judge him 1 By the
number of books he had read, or by the number of schools he had
attended 1 Certainly not. If he never moved you to tears, or com-
pelled your consent to his reasoning, or excited you to enthusiasm,
his pretension would be nothing but a barren name. On the other
hand, there may be a man who has not read a book on eloquence, who
could not give you a single canon in rlietoric, yet when he opens
his mouth your attention is caught as by a sj^ell, his strong, earnest,
pathetic speech, though perhaps broken and inexact, carries everything
before it. Do you hesitate to pronounce him an eloquent man 1 You
judge by the " works," — you believe him for the very works' sake, and
you are unquestionably right. It would fail to convince you that he was
an eloquent man, if he merely repeated the rules of Quintillian and
of Isocrates or repeated from end to end the orations of Demosthenes
and Cicero. You must hear the man speak. It is not enough that he
pronounce keen criticisms on other speakers, showing what canons have
been violated, and what vices have been set up ; after all this, the man

370 THE CITY TEMPLE.

must show his power to coiiA'ince the judgment aud captivate the heart
and the fancy before you can yield him homage as a master of speech.
Specially is this the case with the Christian minister. He may be un-
learned, yet the might of God may be in him ; he may blunder and stumble,
yet a mysterious dignity may invest his whole service. On the other
hand, with spotless character, with innumerable testimonials, with a
status conspicuous and influential, he may be brought to the lowest dust
of humiliation, and to the distress of the most ignominious failure. Oh,
ministers of Jesus Christ — servants of the One Crown — what manner
of qualification should be ours ! We must have seals of our apostle-
ship, and these we cannot have but as we labour in our blessed Master's
spirit : applause we may win ; a name we may make ; but wood, hay,
and stubble shall perish — only the true gold will be of use to us at last !
So there may be persons who question your standing as a Church ;
according to their notions, you are not a Church at all ; your foundation
is a swamp, your pedigree a broken chain. What do you answer 1
Prove your call by your works. Show that the love of Christ is the
all-compelling power of your lives, and by holiness, patience, and
charity set up a claim too strong to be overthrown, too lofty to be
defiled. In the days that are coming we shall have much controversy on
church questions. Rival ecclesiastical theories will be zealously and
ably maintained. In view of this conflict, let me say that works will
be the only satisfactory standard of appeal. Ecclesiastical mummeries
must be ci-umbled aud scattered to the winds. Artificialism must
perish. Pliilantliropy alone will stand. The day will come when up-
holders of every church system will have to defend themselves by the
argument of facts. What have our principles compelled us to do ? Where
are the proofs of our love 1 Where are the results of our voluntaryism 1
What light have we shed on the world 1 What sanctuaries have we
built 1 Away with the theory that believes much and does nothing.
Blessed are the men who are drawn towards self-sacrifice ; the service
that comes of love.

• The appeal which Jesus Christ made on his own behalf is also
the appeal which shoiild be made on behalf of Christianity. There
are two lights in which Christianity may be regarded : it may be looked
at as classified in sectarian dogmas, and as upheld by any particular

GREATER WITNESS THAN JOHN'S. 371

course of argument ; in general terms, it may become a subject of
criticism. Treated in this manner, it has been alike the object of
ridicule and reverence. On the other hand, Christianity may be tested
by its results as a practical religion. Its history is before the world.
What has Christianity done 1 It has greater testimony than the ,
commendation of its deep scholai's and eloquent preachers. It has
opened prison doors, broken down bad governments, aided all good
causes, lifted up trampled honour and virtue ; it has saved men's souls,
given men's lives higher elevation, changed death into a beneficent
liberator, and turned the grave into the last step towards heaven ; it
has made selfish men benevolent, harsh men gentle, timid men heroic,
and sad men happy ; it has blessed the cause of freedom, succoured the
efforts of cliarity, upheld the claims of peace ; it demands to be judged
by its fruits, and its demand is reasonable and ought to be irresistible.
We are called to maintain a practical testimony, to give the emphatic
and convincing answer of noble living. We have had enough of
literary testimonial ; we have done enough in the matter of the evi-
dences ; we are thankful to every author who has spoken one good
word for the truth ; now let the truth speak for itself, let the Christian
be the best defence of Christianity, let the life of the servant commend
the doctrine of the Lord. " ISTot every one that saith unto me Lord,
Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven, but he that doeth
the will of my Father which is in heaven." " Be ye doers of the
Word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves." " The fire
shall try every man's work, of what sort it is." Brethren, what
if our testimonials, our diplomas, our certificates, be> all burnt up
and we bave nothing to show but the smouldering ashes of an arti-
ficial life.

The argument which, applies to Christianity applies also, of course,
with equal effect, to the Bible. If the Bible is to be judged by its
works, there is, happily, an end of controversy. What is the best reply
to attacks upon the Bible ] Circulation. When men say the Bible
is not inspired — circulate it : when they charge upon it inability to
address the spirit of the times— circulate it : when they say it has
outlived the circumstances which called for it — circulate it ! Circu-
lation is the best argument. Let the Bible speak for itself ; there is no

372 THE CITY TEMPLE.

eloquence like its own ; let it reveal itself in its own pure glory, not
in the artificial flare of our commendation. The Bible must be its
own vindicator. Not because our fathers believed in it ; not because
it has a romantic history ; not because of priestly exhortation ; but
because of its own proved power to enlighten the mind, to bless the
heart, to elevate life, and desti'oy the power of death, must the
Bible be held first in our love and highest in our veneration. "A
good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree
bring forth good fruit." "A good man out of the good treasure of his
heart bringeth forth that which is good, and an evil man out of
the evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is evil."
What does the Bible bring forth 1 What of manhood 1 What of
purity? What of hope? It must not be judged in detail : it must
not have meanings forced upon it : it must be taken in its entirety :
it must have free scope : it must be received into the heart — then
we abide by the verdict !

Almighty God, help Thy servants to do the work which will bear wit-
ness of Thee : help them to work while it is called day, so that at eventide
they may have peaceful and grateful recollections. May we be jealous
about our purity ; may our life be a sacrifice ; may our speech be a call
to heaven. We mourn our inconstancy, our feebleness, our ignorance ;
but how great is Thy mercy — greater than the sea, greater than the
firmament, — truly it is past finding out ! May oiir Christian name' be
a Christian reality, and our hope in Thee a light that shall make our
whole life glorious ! How rich in heavenly graces might our life have
been, had we walked with God ! We might have been princes in Thy
house, whereas we are but a 3 slaves, whose eyes are even towards the
dust. Pardon us, blessed Father. Bind us to the Cross — give us hope
in Tl)v dear Son. Amen.

Clje Citg Cciii|jh.

A DISCOURSE

DELIVERED BY

JOSEPH PAEKEE,

In the Poultry Chapel, on Thursday Morning, May 26th, 1870.

THE CHARACTER OF JACOB.

"And Jacob was left alone; and there wrestled a man with him until the
breaking of the day." — Gen. xxxii. 24.

Any atteaipt to make Jacob a hero, ov even a good man, at the time of
his deception of his father, must fail. Few men ever sunk so far below
the line of common honesty, not to say filial piety, and few men
deserve such pungent and humiliating censure : not only was there
deception of an old blind man, itself an unpardonably vile thing, but
there was the most weakminded and petty cowardice in relation to a
noble brother. At that time Jacob represented the very lowest quality
of manhood ; we can call him a man only by courtesy ; while Esau, a
venturous and kind-hearted child of nature, stands up as a prince, un-
crowned indeed, but only so because a thief had robbed him of his crown.
It is a bad thing that there should be thieves at all, but how much worse
that they should hide their wickedness and practise their felony under any
of those gentle names which should signify the sacredness and unity of
human life. If thief be a man's only name, we can beware of him, and point
out the designation as a public warning ; but if to the name of thief he
add the name of brother, he is doubly armed : we may not always be able

36

374 THE CITY TEMPLE.

to tei] "where the brother ends and where the thief begins ; for even under
the brother's smile there may lurk a felon's plot. When a man's enemies
are those of his own household, the eai'th becomes very desolate and
chilling, and the heart sinks into misanthropy, if not into practical
atheism. As to Jacob's mother, surely no meaner woman ever lived ;
not passionate, but calculating ; not flaring in a momentary rage, and
then crying bitterly over her madness, but sitting apart silently medi-
tating a plot, laying a thief's scheme, favouring a sleek, self-involved,
heartless man, at the expense of a noble and even princely brother;
and then think of old, blind, dying Isaac, the victim of the woman who
should have been eyes to the blind, who should have watched him day
and night, lest any trouble should befall him ! Here are mother and son
combined to rob a man who is about to be pub into his grave. And this
is not altogether an uncommon case. To-day there are persons who are
practising on the weakness of dying friends, ui'ging and teasing them
to make disposition of their property, driving them with the whip
of a pitiless and determined selfishness. Will such people have any
enjoyment of the property so stolen 1 Can they spend profitably the
gold which they have wrung out of a dying hand ? Never ! It will
go from them without advantage ; their wealth will be their poverty ;
and in their own turn they will be robbed and laughed at. This is
being done every day ; the schemer is being fastened in his own net ;
and God's hook is thrust through the nose of the ravenous beast which
fiittens himself in the churchyard.

Altogether Jacob comes before the world with a very bad presence up
to the time of stealing the patriarchal benediction. How God could
have chosen such a man for any special piirpose of honour, to set him
at the head of a nation, and give him a name above all kings, has
puzzled many a reader. The lot has always fallen upon Esau, yet God
chose Jacob for His special blessing. How is this ? We can never find
out, if we look at this case alone ; but if we take a wide view of human
history we shall discover that God has always chosen the weak and the
lost as instruments of blessing in His wondrous ministry. He has
never taken what would be generally considered the best specimens of
humanity ; He has often set the younger before the elder. He has left

THE CHARACTER OF JACOB. 375

the ninety and nine sheep in the -wilderness, and gone after one that
was lost ; He has passed by Jerusalem, and set His love upon Nazareth ;
and when He elected a rock for His Church, it was not John, but Peter,
to whom the revelation was made. All this is strange, and yet it is
clearly God's method ; and surely we may see the germ of the redemp-
tive idea in this habit of working. If God had begun anywhere but at
the very lowest depth, His work would have been incomplete ; it would
have been a kind of work which any man would have attempted ; but to
begin Avith the worst, to set Jacob above Esau, to prefer Peter to John
to select the bruised I'eed rather than the great strong tree, was to
adopt a method which never could have been conceived but by infinite
wisdom and love. In the meantime, then, I take my stand here, because
I find a principle which reaches over all difficulty, and gives promise of
such a consummation of human history as would otherwise be impossible.
I must always thick kindly of Esau ; it would be a poor world but for
such men ; they give one stimulus and health, carrying one away from
the scheming and tricky city to the uplands, the moors, and the forests,
to the solemn minsters of nature, where the sweet hymn never ceases,
and where the altar fire is never quenched. I shall not think well of
Jacob, because he was a cold, selfish, wicked calculator ; yet, on the
other hand, if such men were excluded from God's love, and if God
chose only the finest examples of human nature, how many of us would
fall short of heaven ! Then, think how complete is God's work — if the
worst and weakest can be so far recovered as to lie at the very founda-
tion, who can tell how splendid will be their glory, who will be set as
the top stones and pinnacles of the temple 1

The one point to which I wish to direct attention is to be found in
the history of the wonderful night spoken of in the text. "We do not
find that Jacob wasatonce pro moted, without scourging and sorrow, to
his high place ; on the other hand, we do find that he was afflicted and
debased — that, as a wanderer and a stranger, he underwent a most humi-
liating discipline, and that on this night his old and wretched past was
displaced by a new name and a new hope. It is imjjoi-tant to dwell
upon this fact, lest any man should imagine that treachery and selfish- \
ness are the high road to prosperity and honour, Never ! The whole

376 THE CITY TEMPLE.

nnivei'se fights against the bad man ; God never made a throne for the
traitor ; His government is set for ever against all false rule ; and even
in the case of Jacob there are traces not to be mistaken of the godly
chastisement whereby all sonshiiD is tried and purified. It was not to
be expected that the felony which had been perpetrated upon Esau
could be forgotten as if it had never taken place. Observe this very
closely, if you please. Jacob does not justify himself; he does not take
his stand upon right ; he does not plead Divine compulsion. He calls
himself Esau's servant ; he trembles in great alarm when he hears that
Esau is approaching him at the head of four hundred men ; he addresses
God in the language of the uttermost self-abasement, and altogether con-
ducts himself as a man who was consciously in the wrong, and who had
no hope but in mercy, alike human and diviue. Thus the eternal law of
retribution was magnified ; the scourge always follows sin, and the bad
man has always to lick the dust. On the human side, then, there was
humiliation, there was shame, there was fear, there was self -abhorrence ;
but what shall be said of the Divine side, which was screened by the
darkness of the night, when Jacob wrestled in agony with the un-
named Man 1 Now, there must be such a night in every human life,
and that is the burden of my sermon — a night in which the sinful past
shall go down for ever into the depths of unfathomable waters. It
must come to tliis, if the sinner is to have a second beginning in life :
there must be a lonely and agonising conflict with God. We can get
some notion of the results of a high spiritual battle by thinking of changes
that take place in the lower circles of experience. We say of such and
such a man, " He has not been the same pei-son since he lost his son, or
his fortune, or since he passed through a long and terrible afi^iction."
His very visage may have been changed, his voice may have been softened,
his way of looking at things and talking about things is quite new— much
higher, exceedingly refined ; and it is literally true that he is " not the
same person ; " all the lines upon his face are deepened, his eye is
brightened or dimmed, as the case may be ; and his talk about men is
marked by a very gentle charity, or an elevated magnanimity. This was
not his old method ; perhaps he was proud, perhaps covetous, perhaps cen-
sorious, but his dead self has been bui'ied, and he walks among men in
ncM'ness and betterness of life. Are we not conscious of somethins: of this

THE CHAT7ACTER OF JACOB. 377

in our own ex2:)erience ? A gi-eat change has passed upon our spirit, our
bearing, our language, so that persons who see us after long separation
wonder at the change. All this gives us a hint of what ha])pened in
this night of Jacob's history. We cannot tell all the meaning of this
"wrestling;" it was long, even "until the breaking of the day;" it
■was desperate, for not until the Man put the hollow of his thigh out of
joint did Jacob relax his determined grasp ; it was successful, for the old
name Jacob, the supplanter, was changed to Israel, the man who prevails
with God.

Judging ourselves by ourselves, one man maj^ claim to be Esau, and
another may be unanimously regarded as a scheming and treacherous
Jacob ; but bringing ourselves to the bar of Divine righteousness,
we lose all those distinctions which social standards may permit, and
stand before it condemned with unutterable condemnation. In God's
judgment thei-e are no fine shades of moral distinction ; the human
heart has fallen from the purity in whicli He created it, and man now
lies in the brokenness and putrescence of mortal apostasy. The doctrine
taught by the inspired writings, and confirmed by univei'sal experience,
is, distinctly, that sin cannot be thrown off by the sinner at all, and
that life can be reconstructed only after seeing God face to face as
it were, and wrestling mightily with His great power and love. The
first conviction that must be wrought in the sinner's mind is, that
he must become liberated from the dead and pestilent past; so lono' as
he imagines that perhaps he can charm that past into life, and meet
God on equal terms, he proves that he is unprepared to receive tlie
redemption which lias been oflfered to a lost world. If Jacob had felt
that he had one claim upon Esau, he might have fought with some
hope of success, but it was because he felt himself utterly undone that
he assumed the abasement which his ti'eachery justly demanded of him.
The same doctrine holds good on the wide ground of our relationship to
God. If there be in us a conviction, however mixed with self-reproach,
that we are not utterly unworthy of complacent recognition at the
hands of God, we shall never know the jorostration and agony which
precede the final lifting up and immortal blessedness which comes
of God's love. Nor is this hard in the sense of bemg unjust. If a
branch could cut itself ojQT the vine, would it be harsh in the vine to say

378 THE CITY TEMPLE.

to it, "You cannot bear fruit of yourself"? When a man stands
convicted of tlie highest crime known to the law, is he in a position to
debate with the judge respecting some supposed point of excellence in
hi scharacter 1 The Pharisee may have an easy process tq go through in
the temple, and the publican a very hard one ; but it is the ease, which
gains nothing, and the hardness which leads up to heaven.

I don't know that we are straining the purpose of either nan-ative
by setting the narrative of Nicodemus alongside this narrative of Jacob.
Both men wrestled with the Lord Jesus ; both men wrestled by night ;
and the great lesson taught in both cases is, that only by such wrestling .
can any man begin his life over again in the best sense. When Jesus
Christ wounds, it is that He may heal ; and when He strips man of
every faded and tattered garment, it is that He may clothe them with
better raiment. When a man has been undergoing a great conflict
of the heart, and undergoing it in secrecy, he may for a time be utterly
emaciated, but in truth he is getting upon the right way, and out of his
weakness there shall come sufficient and abiding strength.

Fix the mind upon the idea that in every human life there must be
a night of wrestling spent with God before there can be a morning of
happy reconciliation with men. What a morning followed Jacob's
wrestling ! Hear what was done, and see how the characteristics of
each brother are brought out : '* And he (Jacob) passed over, and
bowed himself to the ground seven times, until he came near to his
brother ; and Esau ran to meet him, and embraced him, and fell on
his neck, and kissed him : and they wept." What a natural noble-
ness there was in Esau ! It seems as though the natural nobility
was better than the piety of others, just as we have sometimes seen
that fruit which has grown wild has been in some respects finer
than fruit grown under the advantage of culture. I delight to think
of that morning as a type of the time that shall come upon families
and nations. Men cannot spend long nights of conflict with God
without having social kindliness and blessed influence in the morning.
The great battle is a divine one. When man is right with God he will
be right with his fellow-men ; but until he has prevailed in heaven he
will never have much power or rest on earth. This reminds us, as we

THE CHARACTER OF JACOB. 379

are often reminded, how deeply religious are all the foundations and all
the nobler modes of human life. Our life is not a question of details
or of accident ; it is not an intermingling of unrelated chances ; it has
a centre, a law, a course of development ; and nothing carries with
it higher rationality than the doctrine that rightness with God is the
spring of all other rightness. When we know that society has charges
against us, or that any human being, how weak or lowly soever, can
justly accuse us of wrong-doing, we can become qualified for the occasion
only by deep and prolonged communion with God. Otherwise, we
shall approach the charge on a low moral level ; we shall carry with
us selfish suggestions, and meet the accusation in a spirit of proud and
vengeful criticism ; but when come from a night spent in wrestling
with the Man who is as God to us, we shall descend upon the occasion
with all heavenliness of charity, and accept our just humiliation as the
pledge of new and better standing. Surely we should live a noble and
beautiful life, if we could come to every duty as men who have been
refined in God's sanctuary ; if between all the sepai-ate acts of our life
we could interpose an interview with God, the whole life would be
as a chainwork of fine gold. Blessed are they who, being sinful, go to
Jesus Christ by night, and wrestle with Him for the blessing of forgive-
ness and the honour of a new name : when the day breaks it will be
beautiful, with a light above the brightness of the sun.

Blessed and gracious God, we thank Thee for Thy many wonderful
ways of training humau life. Thou knowest all that is special in us,
and all that is sjiecial in our destiny. Do Thou mercifully command
Thy blessing so to rest upon us as to destroy all evil, and give strength
and dominion to all that is like Thyself. Thou didst make of Jacob an
illustrious servant in Thy kingdom ; Thou didst help him to overcome
his moral weakness, his shameful deci-epitude and selfishness ; do Thou
be pleased likewise so to purify us by Thy Holy Spirit, and ennoble us
by Thy blessed grace, as to enter into the new-creatureship which is

380 THE CITY TEMPLE.

offered to all men in Christ Jesus. We would cast off the old man
with his deeds, and put on the holy strength and beauty of the Adam
who came to redeem us and restore in our souls the glory of Thine own
image. Save us from being content with condemning the treachery of
other men ; inspire us with the love of holiness that will save our hearts
from all evil motives and desires, and that will express itself in our
lives with a lustre that will convince all men that our life is hidden in
God and in His blessed Son. Save us, too, we beseech Thee, from such
admiration of natural nobleness as shall lead us to form false estimates
of our spiritual state before God. We have applauded much in the
character of Esau ; lead us to know that every character is worthless that
is not built upon the righteousness of Christ's love, and that does not
aspire after the fulness of Thine own perfection. That our hearts may
be without stain, may our hearts be pure in Thy sight ; clothe us with
the garments of salvation, and make us beautiful as the children of the
King. Wrestle with us, O Thou who wast known unto Jacob as the
Angel-Man ! Make us importunate, and then reward our importunity
with a new nature and a new name. We remember our treacheries ; we
have done manifold evil to our brethren ; we have put forth our hand to
that which was not our own, and our hearts have been filled with bitter-
ness and mortal distress. Come to us to show the way of salvation,
and enable us to make such reparation to the brothers whom we have
wronged as will show how deep is our penitence and how poignant is
our self-reproach.

Special Note. — From many quarters we have been ui-ged to enlarge
The City Ttmjjle into a penny weekly newspaper — religious,
political, and literary. We are inclined to look at the suggestion
practically. What we do shall be done promptly. We are assured
on every hand that there is a most favoui-able opening for such
a paper. Will our readers help us 1 Will each of them get us six
subscribers 1 If so, the paper woiild begin as a great success. The
present name will be retained ; the weekly sermon will be published •
and every effort made to satisfy the reasonable wishes of our sup-
porters. If the paper appear, it may be had of all news-agents and
booksellers throughout the country.

C|e Ciig C^mph.

A DISCOURSE

DELIVERED BY

JOSEPH PAEKEE,

In the Poultry Chapel, on Thursday Morning, June 2nd, 1870.

MOSES AND THE LAMB.

The words which have been chosen as the text are — Moses and the
Lamh. They occur in the 15th chapter of the Book of Revelation, and
3rd verse —
"They sing the soug of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb."

This is a marvellous conjunction of names. The song sung by the
saints who ovei'came is a song of the human and divine ; a song of the
servant and the Son ; and it may be worth our while to trace, so far as
we may be able, this remarkable and even startling conjunction. It is
not proposed to go in quest of remote analogies or resemblances, or to
force meanings upon passages contrary to their plain import. We know
that Moses was very meek above all men upon the earth, and that Jesus
Christ was meek and lowly in heart. We know that Moses was the
deliverer of Israel, and that Jesus Christ was the Redeemer of the
world ; and we are not prepared to deny that many just and impressive
analogies might be wrought out by comparing the work of Moses in
Egypt and the wilderness with the work of Christ among men ; there is
undoubtedly abundant scope for legitimate exercise of sanctified genius
in giving spiritual and Christian interpretations to many points in the
eventful ministry of Moses ; and if I do not avail myself of the goodly
stores which may be found in such interpretations, it is because I have
in view a task which is sufl&ciently comprehensive to engage our atten-
tion during the whole time which we occupy on these occasions.

37

382 THE CITY TEMPLE.

Let me, then, read in order a set of passages which will indicate the
ground which it is intended to traverse : —

'• Pharaoh charged all the people, saying, Every son that is born ye
shall cast into the river."

" Herod will seek the young child to destroy him."

" This Moses whom they refused .... the same did God send to be
a ruler and a deliverer."

" The Stone which the builders refused the same has become the
head-stone of the corner."

" As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the
Son of man be lifted up ; that whosoever believeth in him might not
perish, but have everlasting life."

"The law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ."

" They sing the song of Moses .... and the Lamb."

I.

The first remaik that occurs upon reading these is that the highest
human powers are quite unable to baffle the schemes of God. Pharaoh
and Herod were intent on murder. Bad kings have always been
afraid of young life ; they have never been the friends of intelligent and
progressive manhood. History convicts them of the direst crimes which
human wickedness can perpetrate. Their short but never easy method
has been summed up in the decree, Slay all who threaten you ; throw
them into the river — kill them with the edge of the sword ! May not
we learn something from this ruthless method of upholding bad pur-
poses ? If wicked men have been afraid of young life, is there not a
power in young life which may be trained to the highest uses % Ought
we to be indifferent when kings have been struck with mortal teiTor %
Where they have seen vengeance, ought not we to see energy that
should be sanctified ? Where they have proposed murder, ought not we
to propose education % Train your children as if God had called them
to a special ministry ; do not set up a low standard of possibility ; not
that you are to over-tax their powers, or encourage them in unnatui'al
conceit ; set before them the highest examples, animate them by the
noblest considerations, point out the road which lies towards heaven,
bless them in every endeavour to lighten human misery, and work

MOSES AND THE LAMB. 383

diligently, as God may put opportunities in your way ; and you will
help to train a race of men befoi-e whom all throned evil and all
sceptered terror shall quake, and perish in unpitied and irrecoverable
ruin.

I^he devil gives ungracious welcome to every child that carries the
faintest sign of moral nobility or special destiny. Moses was laid upon
the river ; the Lamb was pursued by the sword of Herod. It was a
hard beginning, but the world has had history enough now to know that
hard beginnings are the winters out of which spring is quickened, and by
which summer is enriched and glorified.

Have any of you had a hard beginning 1 Look at Moses and the
Lamb ! "Write me a list of men who have ever done anything remark-
able for the world, whose beginning was bright, and full of joy, and I
•will engage to throw it into insignificance, by a list long, illustrious, and
imperishable, of men who have been cradled in the manger, exposed on
the river, pursued in early life by unkindness, by malice, and by all
uncharitableness which darkens in the direction of murder itself

II.

" This Moses, whom they refused, the same did God send to be a ruler

and a deliverer The Stone which the builders refused, the same

is become the Head-stone of the corner."

Here we come to a different class of opponents and enemies, but to an
opposition, if possible, more n^lignant and wicked. When a man's
enemies are they of his own household, he has reached almost the last
trial of his faith and patience. When Dttvid's equal, and guide, and
acquaintance, with whom he took sweet counsel, and walked to the
house of God in company, reproached him, and magnified himself
against him, David's heart failed, and he spake bitterly with his tongue.
Jesus Christ came unto His own, and His own received Him not; He
was in the woi4d, and the woi'ld was made by Him ; and the world
knew Him not. No man received His testimony. He was as a king
of whom his own citizens said, " We will not have this man to reign
over us." Yet God hath set this stone of stumbling and this rock of
offence as the Head of the corner, and on Him the spiritual house is
established for ever.

384 THE CITY TEMPLE.

Very wonderful is God's method of electing and calling men to His
service ; so wonderful as to throw into confusion all human probabilities
and calculations. He raiseth the poor out of the dust, and lifteth up the
beggar from the dunghill, to set them among princes, and . to make
them inherit the throne of glory. He destroys the wisdom of the wise,
and brings to nothing the understanding of the prudent; he chooses
base things of the world, and things which are despised; yea, and things
which are not, to bring to nought things that are. By the foolish things
of the world He confounds the wise ; and by the weak things of the
world He confounds the things which are mighty. This is the Lords
doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes !

God's election fell not upon Eliab, but upon David, the keeper of
sheep ; He called Elisha from the plough, and set Amos, the herdman
' and gatherer of sycamore fruit, to prophesy unto Israel. He makes the
first last, and the last first !

Men are confounded when probabilities are upset, and when their
• inductions from what they mistake for facts are contradicted by un-
expected events. Men talk about cause and effect ; they say that
the cause must be equal to the efi'ect ; they read life, and work
in life in the light of theories which have a good deal to recom-
mend them ; yet God often bafliesthem — often calls the unlikeliest men
I to the front — often gives the race to the slow, and the battle to the weak
— and gathers the whole kingdom of heaven around a little child, as its
best earthly type and illustration. " This is the Lord's doing, and it is
marvellous in our eyes."

IIL

" As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the
Son of man be lifted up."

Here the names of Moses and the Lamb are brought into conjunction

^ by Jesus Christ Himself. No sign of inferiority is attached to Moses.

There is nothing in the terms of the conjunction to denote inequality. Is

Jesus Christ degraded by such a remarkable association 1 Ours is a

^ poor reverence — in fact only a drivelling superstition — if we tremble

lest Christ's honour be divided.

Was not the lifting up of the serpent in the wilderness a Divine

MOSES AND THE LAMB. 385

arrangement ? Is not the apparent insignificance and contemptibleness
of the device quite consistent witli God's method of doing His work 1 It
was not the scheme of Moses ; it was not the proposition of the suffering
Israelites ; it was the direct command of God, and, therefore, not un-
worthy of being spoken of in illustration of the Great Redemption.

But I wish to say more than this— is not every human attempt
to recover and heal the world, a movement in the direction of the
Chnstian redemjytion ? Men are not always aware of the full sig-
ficance of their woi-k. Every man who studies and toils that he may
alleviate human suftering, is moving in the line of Divine beneficence.
He may not see all that he is doing ; it may be an unconscioiis, and in
fact an unintentional movement, yet not the less certain, and not the
less a basis of appeal to himself on higher concerns. God's argument
■with men regarding the recovery and sanctification of their soids is
strengthened and made logically irresistible, by their own efforts in the
lower region of healing, and education, and satisfaction. The great text
now before us may be expanded so as to embrace all those efforts. As
Moses lifted np the serpent in the wilderness ; as physicians seek healing
virtue in plants and minerals ; as parents strain their affections and
their outward resoui^ces for the advantage of their sufiering children ; as
philanthropists make great efforts to better the state of society ; as
human life, in its best condition, is a continued attempt to raise and
bless the world, even so is the lifting up of the Sou of man, the whole
scheme of Divine mediation, the great, the transcendent expression of
Divine love, the all-inclusive and sublime consummation of all your
human processes — and if you did but vmderstand your own care about
the welfare of the world, you would see in it a sign of God's infinite love
as shown in the lifting \ip of the Son of man.

•In this union of the names of Moses and the Lamb you have a hint of
the co-operation of the human and the Divine, which should help to an
understanding of the great special work which is entirely of God, and
cannot be shared by men. In all our attempts to do good, though they
be divinely suggested, we are but working with broken faculties, and our
sinfulness mars the beauty of our ideals : we cannot work with whole-
heartedness and purity ; we struggle and blunder ; we become dis-
couraged and weary — but God works from the other end. With

386 THE CITY TEMPLE.

infinite powei', infinite wisdom, infinite love, he answers the cry of the
heart, and reveals the Cross bearing His own Son, as the great end
towards which we have been moving, but which of ourselves we could
never have attained.

TV/

" The law came by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ."
Here we have at once a parallel and a contrast — a parallel in that
law and grace are both of God, and a contrast in that while law came
by the servant, grace and truth came by the Son. Yet grace is not
lawless, nor is truth an unregulated sentiment. We could never have
known grace had we not first known law ; nor could we, as sinful men,
ever have come to the spirituality of truth, but through the definiteness
and severity of commandment. In a very important sense we have to
begin with Moses, and to traverse the initial and preparatory stages of
the Old Testament ; th« Old Testament and the New are yet to be to
us as Moses and the Lamb. They are distinct, yet united ; and as Jesus
Christ Himself began at Moses and all the prophets, and found in all the
Scriptures things concerning Himself, so we may find in the ancient
records of inspiration the law which, unchanging as the Lawgiver, is yet
carried to fulness of grace and truth in the work of Jesus Christ, the
Saviour of the world.

There is a difference between law and grace, and law and truth, which
need not be pointed out at great length in this connection, as the one
object of our discourse does not require any collateral discussion. It is
enough for us to lay hold of the fact that in the working out of His
purpose God sent us a schoolmaster, to conduct us through a severe yet
invigorating discipline, that we might be prepared to enter upon the
glorious liberty of the sons of God. Children can understand a com-
mand when they cannot imderstand the reason on which it is based ;
they can obey the law, when they cannot explain the truth ; they can
walk by the letter when they cannot comprehend the spirit Yet there
comes a time in their growth, if they grow according to the Divine law,
when, under the sternness of the commandment they see the tender
purpose of grace, and through the hardness of the letter they see the

MOSES AND THE LAMB. 387

brightness and beauty of truth. Jesus Christ, then, did not come to
destroy the law, but to fulfil it ; He did not depose Moses and the
prophets, but gave them exceeding honour ; He did not relax the law
of the seasons, yet showed that in Himself alone came the bloom and
splendour of eternal summer.

It is true, blessedly true, that we are not under the law, but under
grace ; yet I question whether any man can be under grace until he has
first been under law ; and I deny that any man who is in grace can make
light of law ; on the contrary, he will see in law the first motion of the
Divine love which culminated in the grace of Jesus Christ.

If any man is carrying the law as a burden, which prevents his
coming to the gospel, he is abusing the law ; and if any man says that
because he is under grace he can thei-efore dispense with the law, he
is dishonouring grace. Bx-ethren, being under grace, we are the ser-
vants of righteousness, — we are not without law to God, but under the
law to Christ.

Y.

" They sing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of
the Lamb."

Wonderful is the song of Moses and the Lamb — the song of the
human and the divine — the song of law pei-fected in grace — the song of
earth and heaven. How human nature is thereby glorified, — apostate,
ruined, human nature associated with the Lamb in the sons: of heaven !
Christianity, instead of depreciating human nature, exalts it, — it is only
in Christianity that we see the real worth of human nature. If a man
would know what he really is, and what he may become, let him look,
not at himself, but at Jesus Christ. Was not man made in the image
and likeness of God 1 True, he is a fallen creature ; yet in his fall he
attests his origin — there is not a fragment of the shattered temple which
does not prove that its builder and maker was God.

They are not two distinct songs ; the song is one and the same. Nor
is the Lamb dishonoured by being thus associated with the great repre-
sentative of the human race ; it is his own doing, and it is marvellous in
our eyes ! It is not the song of Peter and the Lamb, though Peter was
the first Christian disciple ; it is not the song of John and the Lamb,

388 THE CITY TEMPLE.

though John pointed out the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of
the world. It is the song of Moses and the Lamb — the Old Testament
and the New are one ; the Law and the Gospel are one. From the
beginning to the end the Divine dispensations are one ; God's love, as
shown in Jesus Christ, was not a merely chronological development.
From eternity to eternity God is love — now thundering on the mount
that burned with fire, now entreating upon Mount Zion ; now smiting
the nations with the rod of destruction, and now sending the Gospel to
every creature ; now commanding the pestilence to make havoc in the
earth, and now causing the sun to arise with healing in his wings.
God's love has many servants ; Moses, Elias, and Jesus are to us
separate names ; are they not, viewed from an earthly point, as Faith,
Hope, and Charity ]— all God's gifts, yet the last, and best, and greatest
is Jesus.

1 We have seen Moses and the Lamb persecuted by kings ; we have
seen Moses and the Lamb refused of their brethren ; we have seen
Moses and the Lamb associated in lifting up the standard of salvation ;
we have seen Moses and the Lamb as representing the Law and the
Gospel ; we have seen Moses and the Lamb as the subjects of heavenly
song. From this conjunction, let us learn at once how condescending
is the majesty of God, and how majestic is the nature of man.

Clje Ciig €tm^lL

A PARABLE,

DELIVERED BY

JOSEPH PAEKEE,

In the Poultry Chapel, on Thursday Morning, June 9th, 1870.

VIEWS OF HUMAN LIFE.

"What is your life?"— James iv. 14.

Tou know the joys of early morning in May — morning in the country
which lies far away from the blight of city smoke ; only in such country
can Morning show herself as she really is ; in other places she is veiled
and disguised, as if the spirit of fear had laid hold upon her, or as if her
delicacy shrunk from the tumult and noisoraeness of city life. Not long
ago I saw Morning in her fullest beauty ; she smiled upon the hills, and
shed her blessing on the valleys like a priestess of the Most High God ;
orchards clothed with garments of many colours, fields rich with
luxuriant pasture, gardens fragrant with many flowers, were all within
sight ; and as for the pm-e, healing, invigorating air, there was quite a
busy population thronging its broad, free thoi-oughfares ; birds were
curving and darting in all directions, singing and cliirj^ing as they went
their early errands ; -winged insects were intent on pursuits with which
no stranger might intermeddle ; from every tree there sounded a hymn
not less touching because often abrupt and always incomplete ; lambs
were gambolling, and even soberer cattle were not indisposed to return
to the innocent follies of their youth. The whole scene had upon it the
bloom of hope ; the most decrepit life could hardly have resisted the
spell of its renewing power ; it was a morning that symbolised Resur-
rection and Immortality.

Standing on a hill-top a youth approached me, and soon showed
that he was of a dreamy, contemplative, idealistic cast of mind ; he had
a world of fancies quite his own ; he read messages on the green trees,

38

390 THE CITY TEMPLE.

and heard calls in the music of birds, which were concealed from duller
men. From the excitement of his face I correctly inferred that his nerves
often had the upper hand of him : he was all motion : there was life all
over him so to speak, hence he was afflicted with a sensibility which
occasioned him many a pain beyond the common lot of men. , Notwith-
standing this excitableness it is quite correct to describe his cast of
mind as visionary ; extremes met ; he was as one who trembled in a
dream. To him I ventured to put the inquiry — "What is life, — what
does it seem like to you V Instantly he answered, looking with most
intelligent appreciation upon the enchanting vernal scene, " This is life,
sir — this is life ; brightness, beauty, music, promise — this is life ! " For a
moment I paused, as if unable to read his riddle, but in reality because
I did not wish to trouble the happy dream of his young heart. He
regarded my silence as a sign of inability to tell the meaning of his
figure, and, to help me, he pointed to a spring in the hill-side : the water
was pure, cool, clear as crystal, and as it sparkled it seemed to say to
the sun, " You and I will make this day happy !" and then it streamed
away over a stony road, to find the sea which lures all waters to itself.
The youth looked upon the springing water as upon a friend, and heard
in its minor music much of benediction ; he dipped his hand into the
pool, and threw the water from him, admii'ing the spangles which it made
in the sun, and then he watched the descending streamlet ; again he
exclaimed, " Sir, this is life !" Like himself, I looked at the rill, and the
joy which his contagious cheerfulness quickened in me became a pain, for
I saw on how rough a course the glittering and unsuspecting stream had
entei'ed. The riddle was unsolved. The stream was but a hint, not an
interpretation. Nor could I blame my companion ; for what did he know
of life — was he not as one who has no yesterdays, and whose soul lives
in the haze and mystery of the future 1 He bade me listen to the silence;
he pointed out the birds, and called them by name ; he diverted a thi'ead
of the stream towards a clump of half-opened primroses ; and then we
fell into silence again, and listened to the soothing hum of the morning.
I took no note of the duration of our silence ; but I remember with how
startling an energy it was broken.

"Listen !" exclaimed the youth.

"What hear youj"- he then inquired, in a subdued, but still earnest
voice.

" A noise, as of distant trumpeting," said I, in a half doubtful tone.

"And what does it mean 1" said he, laying his hand gently upon
mine ; " what does it mean ? Think of your own riddle, and there's the
answer ! "

" You puzzle me," said I ; " what connection is there between my

VIEWS OF HUMAN LIFE. 3t)l

riddle and that sound 1 My riddle is, ' What is life 1 ' and that is the
sound of a musical instrument."

" Ha, ha !" said he, " the enigmatist requires an interpreter. Why, sir,"
he continued, " you must put one thing to another, and let your imagi-
nation give wings to your logic : that is the sound of a trumpet ; it is
a sound that means battle, and battle means victory ; shut your eyes,
and you will see all my meaning with the eyes of your mind — I see,"
he eagerly continued, " a hundred banners high in the sunshine, and
on their silken surface there are letters of gi.ild. I see thousands upon
thousands of spears, bright as if they had been dipped in lightning ; I
hear men talking to one another of spoil, and victory, and honour; — Oh,
sir, that — strength, joy, conquest — that is life !"

Still we did not understand one another fully ; for the youth and I
seemed to be living in diffei'ent worlds. Instead of finding in him the
simplicity of young life, I found a manner of expression almost romantic;
it would liave been affectation, if it had been found alone ; but as it was in
pei'fect consistency with all the other features of his character, it was
felt to be something deeper and better than a mere conceit. As we
wandered slowly down the hill I was well aware of many an inquiring
glance being directed to me by my companion. I thought, too, that per-
haps my eccentric interlocutor was secretly rejoicing that he had kept
the enigmatist at bay ; but opportunity of testing the case was lost by
the unexpected appearance of a maiden, who seemed to embody the very
spirit of the lovely Morning. On her brow was the seal of wisdom, in
her carriage there was the fearlessness of innocence, and about her
altogether there was the all-revealing luminousness which moral reptiles
dread and avoid. She hailed my companion with girlish frankness, and,
with something like banter of tone, she addressed him.

"And how have things looked this morning'?" said she; "come,
brother, give me a straightforward answer, for once ;" and then she
looked at me, and her look was an explanation.

" We have been trying to answer a riddle," said I, " and if you will
pardon me, I will venture to say that your brother's replies have been
somewhat figurative."

She tui-ned upon me an expression of countenance which plainly said,
"I know it all;" and then added, interrogatively, "a riddle ?"

" Yes," said I, " and, if you please, I will put it to yourself— What is
life?" I cannot easily forget the penetration and brightness of her
look, as she stood in reflective silence ; she took but a moment to see
through the mystery, and then she answered, " ' What is life T Why, it
is A HOPE."

392 THE CITY TEMPLE.

II.

Summer noonday makes one glad of tlie shade of a great rock or a
friendly tree. The sun is a fierce opponent when he strikes from his
highest point ; how gladly then do we hasten to the shadow, and let the
burning conqueror have everything his own way! Within a most
hospitable shadow I met a group of hard-working men taking their mid-
day rest, and talking to one another about the unexpected turns and
difficulties of life. They were men of matui'e years, just past their prime,
yeb strong in body and clear in mind. They did not talk about life in a
bookish, manner, nor did they talk about it off-handedly, but with mingled
sobriety and humour, which made their homely talk quaintly pathetic.

" Five-and-twenty years ago," said one of them, "I never thought I
should have been where I am now."

" Five-and-twenty years ago," said another, " I was as wild a youth as
ever lived, going headlong to the gallows ; and I should have gone too,
but for something I cannot talk about."

" Five-and-twenty years ! " said a third, mxisingly — " why I would not
for the woi-ld go through the next five-and-twenty years as I have gone
through the last."

" Yery likely not," a serious man rejoined ; " but life comes to us a
day at a time ; we never have to open two gates at once, and that's how
we bear so much."

" Two gates at once ! " the former speaker retorted, in a tone of sur-
prise— "some of us seem to have to open forty gates at once, and we can
find neither the handle nor the key."

"That's true," a new voice replied ; " it seems to me there's nothing
but gates to oj)en, and the gates seem to have made up their minds not to
be opened."

" It's a puzzle, isn't it 1" another inquired, giving his head a general
turn, so as to address the question to everybody in the group. " I call
it a puzzle," he continued ; " what with trying to keep body and soul
together, bringing up your children — God bless them ! — giving them a bit
of schooling, and going about from one place to another seeking work,
it seems to me we are always beginning and never ending ; we turn up
just where we began."

This was unanimously declared to be a sensible opinion ; so the
speaker felt encouraged to proceed.

"Just like my little gii'l, bless her. She has given us more trouble
and more joy than all the other children put together ; for we never
thought we could rear her. Why, bless you, for three weeks at a time
I have never had my clothes off "

VIEWS OF HUMAN LIFE. 393

" That's not the subject, friend," said the man who had confessed that
he would have gone headlong to the gallows but for something he
couldn't talk about ; and there was nothing ungentle in his tone, as he
made this interruptive remark.

" Well, I Avas going to say," the speaker resumed, " that as she was
knitting last night, and getting on capitally, down dropped the needle,
and she had all her stitches to pick up again ; that's just what we all do •
we knit and knit, and just when we want to get on a triiie faster, out
drops the needle, and we have a woi-ld of picking up to do."

*' Don't think me hard, friend," the former speaker interposed, " for
stopping you just now ; for the fact is, I cannot stand much about little
children suffering ; I know all about that ; I have lost three little girls
myself, so I can tell you there's a soft place in my heart ;" and so sayino-,
he turned away his head from the company.

I ventured to put in a word here.

" You seem, said I, " to take rather a gloomy view of life. Not lone
since I heard a young couple say that life is a hope, but you don't seem
to think so."

An ironical but not disrespectful titter followed this remark.

" That's exactly what I used to think," said one of the men ; " there
was always something saying, ' Come on a few steps further,' — and the
further you went the further it went ; and so there was nothing but
disappointment and vexation."

" It would be very different," another added, " if every man could live
his own life, without having anything to do with anybody else's life ;
but things get so mixed up together, till they're just like a thousand
pieces of string that have got all twisted and knotted, and you can't make
anything of them."

" Worse than that," a severe critic replied — " it seems to me there are
too many of us for this little bit of a world ; so men are tumbling over
one another, and it goes badly with the weak ones ; and then," he con-
tinued, without showing the point of connection, " when things seem to
be over, and done with, they come up again years and years after, and
take hold of you like so many constables."

" That's a good 'un," said a rough -looking speaker, his eyes brightening
as if he had suddenly met a friend ; " ha ! ha ! you've hit it there. I go
to seek a job, and just as things are putting themselves together comfort-
ably, and I see my way clear to a pound a week, a man comes up, and
says he to me, ' You used to work for So-and-so 1 ' Says I, ' That's
right ;' says he, ' That's fifteen years since 1 ' Says I, ' Right again ;'
and something comes into my throat. Says he, ' Yes, I know, my man ;
my uncle was foreman there, and he told my brother that you were

S94 THE CITY TEMPLE.

turned off, but not for being a teetotaller ; is that right V So I begin to.
cougli, and to talk ratlier queer, and I am told that there's no opening
at present for a new hand."

" That's just how things come round and round," said oneof the com-
pany ; " you think a thing is dead and buried, and so it is ; but there is
sure to be a ghost, or somebody's uncle told his nephew, who mentioned
it to his half-cousin, and so the thing dogs a fellow's footsteps right away
to the miserable end."

" Isn't that exactly what I said," a former speaker insisted ; " things
are all knotted together, and tliere's no getting them sorted ; you see, if
every man could keep his life quite alone, things would go a good
deal straighter."

" But now," said I, " it is only fair to put the other side of the case :
suppose our friend there, who was reminded of what he did fifteen years
since, had at that time been a sober man — suppose he had pleased his
employers, and made himself a good name — wouldn't he have found that
a very good piece of string mixed uj) with the knot ? You must not
think that life is a one-sided alfair."

" True," said one of the men ; " fair's fair — if a man sows bai-ley he
cannot reap wheat, and if he makes a chimney-sweep of himself, he must
not imagine that people will mistake him for a miller."

" Well," said I, " that's good common sense ; now, if you will allow
me, I will ask you a question : If you had to tell me in one word Avhat
life is, what word would you use 1 What is life 1"

A man who had not spoken during the conA^ersation, said, " I think
that question has been pretty well answered by the talk we have just
listened to, but if we have to put it into one word, I should say — life is
a maze."

" So say we all," the men of middle age replied; "the answer is quite
right — life is a t/dcket, A labyrinth, A MAZE."

III.

Has not Evening charms of its own, as well as hopeful Morning and
fiery Noonday? Does it not, in tender eloquence, speak of work
finished and rest well earned 1 It comes upon the day like a benedic-
tion upon the prayer of labour, and is a hint of the Sabbath, as the
Sabbath is a hint of heaven. It is the serene old age of the exhausted
Day. It wears the sunset as a ci'own, and passes away to the great
Shadow through the glimmeiing portals of the early stars. It is true
that there is a touch of melancholy upon the tranquil countenance of

VIEWS OF HUMAN LIFE. 395

evening, but its pensiveness is not sorrow. All endings have pathetic
meanings : all victories have in them something of the sadness of battle.
Tell me of a more beautiful picture than that of an old man, white with
the snow of score upon score of years, quiet with the holy peace of a
good conscience, seated under the yellowing foliage of an aged tree, on
an evening in advanced autumn 1 The picture is complete in pathetic
consistency : descending life, retiring sun, decaying foliage, vanishing
year — many evenings gathered into one ! I remember such a scene ; I
remember, too, my brief interview with the venerable patriarch who was
its central figure.

" I live in the past, sir, and not in the present," was his first sentence.

" Why not in the present 1" I ventured to inquire.

" Ah, sii'," said he, " the present is not to be compared with the past ;
life is hardly woi'th living now ; things have changed, sir, and changed
for the worse."

" Are you very old 1 " said I, in a respectful tone.

" So old, sir, as to be almost young again," he replied. " I shall soon
have done with the journey now ; I have passed the eighty-fifth
milestone."

" And you don't care much for the things that are going on just now 1"

" The fact is, sir," said he, looking steadily at me through his worn
and feeble eyes — " the fact is, 1 forget them. Tell me of anything that
happened in my life sixty — aye, and even seventy — years ago, and I shall
remember everything about it ; but do you know, sir, I cannot remember
what happened yesterday."

" Now," said T, " there's one question I should like to ask you, if }ou
will be good enough to allow me — How does life look now you see it
from the far end ] "

" Ah !" said he, " I can tell you how it looks to me. I often go back
and see it all. I think of births, marriages, and deaths ; I go over the
histories of all the families I have known, and I say to myself — "Where are
the children and the children's children'? I think of all the rich men that
I have seen become poor, and of all the poor men that I have seen become
rich ; I walk over the churchyard and read the lettering on the tomb-
stones ; I go from street to street in the town where I lived, and count
how often the signs have changed names; I talk to young men about their
grandfathers; and when I get a good long talk with anybody who is
about my own age, why, sir, it seems as if my old heart was becoming
young again" — the old man paused here, and a sti-ange light gave new
meaning to his face.

"And what does it all look like?" said I, holding him to the subject.'

"Look like?" he repeated; "why, sir, it looks just like A DEEAM."

396 THE CITY TEMPLE.

So Morning, Mid-day, and Evening had each its own answer to the
question, What is life 1 Youth said, It is a Ao^je ; Manhood said, It is
a maze ; Old Age said, It is a dream; — and in these answers I fonnd
nothing but sadness. The beginning was beautiful, the progress was
exciting, but the end was full of pain : a hope that is lost in a tangled
thicket, a thicket that leaves upon the mind nothing but the haze
and mystery of a dream, such cannot be a true interpretation of the
tormenting problem of life. I met an Interpreter who set these answers
in a right order. " The answers," said he, " are correct ; life is indeed a
hope, a maze, a dream ; but whoso believeth in me shall find that this
order shall be reversed : youth shall be a dream ; manhood shall be a
strife ; old age shall be a hope ! When the traveller passes the last
milestone, there shall arise upon the vision of his soul a light in which
he shall not so much as see the momentary shadow which men call
death."

The gospel of Jesus Christ does not leave life a dream, it blesses it
with a hope ! " Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus
Christ, which according to His abundant mercy hath begotten us again
unto a lively hope," " which hope we have as an anchor of the soul both
sure and steadfast :" " tribulation worketh patience j and patience,
experience ; and experience, hope ; and hope maketh not ashamed :"
" now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that
ye may abound in hope through the power of the Holy Ghost." What
is the effect of this hope on our life 1 Is it an occasion of indolence, of
self-neglect, of presumption as to the future 1 The answer is clear and
final — " Every man that hath this hope in him, purifieth himself even as
He is pure :" " having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us
cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting
holiness in the fear of God." The splendour of our hope is to be the
measure of our discipline !

CJe €xt^ €tm^lL

REPORT OF A DISCOURSE

I>ELIVEKED BY

JOSEPH PAEKER,

In the Poultry Chapel, on Sunday Morning, June 12th, 1870.

THE SIGNS OF A TRUE MINISTRY.

"The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord hath anointed me to
preach good tidings unto the meek ; He hath sent me to bind up the broken-hearted, to

E reclaim hberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are
ouud ; to proclaim the accei)table year of the Lord, and the day of vengeance of
our God ; to comfort all that mourn ; to appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to
give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of Joy for mourning, the garment of praise
for the spirit of heaviness." — Isaiah Ixi. 1, 2, 3.

This word was, of course, fulfilled in all the beauty and grace of its
meaning in the person and work of Jesus Christ ; yet I propose to regard
it as setting forth the signs of a true service for the kingdom of Cod,
whether that service be rendered by an individual labourer or by the
Church in its collective capacity. Looked at in this light, the text
becomes solemn as a judgment seat, and terrible as the vision of God.

In going to the Old Testament for lessons about true service in the
Christian kingdom, we are not taking a ste]) backwards. On this subject
Isaiah is as good a teacher as John. Every now and then we come upon
sentences in the Old Testament which might have formed the very
climax and peroration of the New — sentences that seem out of place, that
occur in the record before their time, just as in early winter we have
occasional days that in point of brightness might have been days in
summer. Hence we say at such a time, " Why to-day is more like a
June day than anything else ; it is so bright and so genial." And so in
the Old Testament we come upon days that are apparently out of season ;
we get glimpses of summer even in winter ; and even in the chill of the
morning we come now and again upon warmth that belongs properly to

39

398 THE CITY TEMPLE,

the noon-day. There are in the Old Testament glimpses that are full of
glory : voices that seem to tell the whole story of gospel love. We say
of a child sometimes, " Really he talks beyond his years ! How intelli-
gent he is for one so young ! Why he speaks as if he were ten years
older than he really is." So, in the Old Testament, we come upon un-
expected words, brilliant revelations, pathetic sentences, that, iu our judg-
ment, might have been reserved for a later period of the record. Prophets
sometimes spake as if they saw clearly to the very end of time ; and they
come near to us and speak to us with a familiarity that is really
startling. They were made free of limitations which crippled other men,
and so they lived in what was to them a large and crowded world. The
text, then, you see is ancient, yet modern ; the root is old, yet the fruit
is beautiful with new bloom, and rich with juices that are just ripe. Ifc
is ever so, for he who speaks truth, is everlasting. Let us dwell upon these
words, then, not as the Old Testament words only, but as New Testa-
ment declarations, and as testimonies and teachings ajipi-opriate to our
own day, and to our own sphere of Christian service, whatever that
may be.

In speaking of the Christian service, whatever that may be — in
speaking of the Christian ministry — I am not speaking of a professional
class of persons who occupy a well-defined status in the Church ; I
enlarge the word " ministry " so as to include all individual effort, all
social effort, and all private endeavour to reveal Christ more fully to the
•world, and all public attempts to lift up a testimony on behalf of Christ,
and His truth, and His kingdom ; and, looked at in this sense, the text
supplies us with some two or three points of the utmost practical utility
and instructiveness.

I. First of all the text declares, that the true ministry is always
inspired and directed by the Holy Ghost. '* The Spirit of the Lord God
is upon me. " The minister does not speak in his own name, or work in
his own strength. The words that come from him, if he be a true
servant of God, ax'e not words of his own imagining and his own device.
Even when he has laboured in the collection, and done his utmost to
work them out to a softness of beauty and polish, they are not his
•Words ; and often when he is speaking most brokenly and stumblingly,
without apparent coherence, and occasionally with intense dissatisfaction
to himself, he is speaking words that God has put into him, and that
God will use for purposes and ends which the minister can never fully
understand. A ministiy without the Holy Ghost is a cloud without
water ; a Church without the Holy Ghost is a tree twice dead, that can-
not too soon be pulled up by the roots. The very first point, then, that
is brought before us is a point that ought to force lis iu upon ourselves
with reverent self-examination, with an intense desire to be faithful to
ourselves and the trutli in answering the question — Have we the Holy
Ghost 1 We have a name to live ; we have a public profession ; we have
a status that is clearly defined ; we have a creed that we can repeat by
rote ; we have a framework ; we have artificial appointments and
arrangements, cumbrous and endless, but under all, and at the heart of
all. and inspiring all, and covering all with an unwasting and all-
attractive lustre, have --ve God the Holy Ghost '? That our service may
be animated by the Holy Spirit, and should express divine ideas and

THE SIGNS OP A TRUE MINISTRY. 399

pui'pose:^, is deal* from the consideration tliat ours is not an earthly
ministry contemplating earthly matters. We are not mere statesmen ;
we are not politicians ; Ave are not conceiving and arranging anything
that relates mei-ely to the outer world, to society as a passing faction ;
we axe addressing ourselves to the soul, the thought, the conscience, the
innermost life of the world. If our ministry related only to the politics
of the da}^, or to the philanthropic ameliorations of the jjassing day, then
we might work according to our own genius, and our own fancy, and
our own will ; but when we are working not for this world only, but
for worlds we have never seen, and which have been revealed to us
by a Spirit which is not of this world, we have to be careful that we
work not in our own strength or after our own imagination, but cleai'ly,
steadily, and constantly along the line of Divine inspiration. And hei'ein
is the wisdom of the Church often humbled ; nay, more, herein the
wisdom of the Church is often turned out of doors altogethei", and
banished as a folly and an intrusion. In working out religious ideas and
Christian purposes, it is not the man who has the longest head that
can always do the most good ; it is not the craftiest legislator that can
always do the most for the world's iiplifting — it is the man who says — and
says in reverence and liuniiliLy — " I am but a vessel, an instrnment, an
agent ; I am not the master, I am but the servant. Lord God, be thou
my inspiration, my strength, and the completeness of my ])ower." And
thus oftentimes the youngest, the poorest, the unlikeliest, being enriched
by those gifts of the Holy Ghost, come to the world with a plenitude of
efficiency which is impossible to men who only speak according to their
own imaginations, and have no deep, tender, close, long-continued com-
munion with the Holy Ghost. The natural man cannot understand the
things of God, because they are spiritually discerned. The things of
God are foolishness to the carnal mind. A man who is not under the
inspiration of the Holy Ghost has not the faculty whereby spiritual
things are perceived. He is as a blind man in the midst of a summer
landscai)e ; he is as one who is deaf in the midst of melodies and har-
monies loud as thunder, orderly as the utterances of the sea. Tliey are
nothing to him. He has not the faculty, he has not the life that sees
these things, and lays hold upon them, and appropriates them, and re-
produces them in positive and beneficent life. And this is the expla-
nation of much of the distaste which men have for religious services and
religious engaijements. And this distaste is not at all to be wondered at.
Don't expect the dead man to enjoy your banquet, don't expect the blind
man to admire your works of ait, don't call upon the dumb for a psalm,
or a hymn of adoration or praise. We are told now and again that if the
sermon were caiTfully thought over and carefully written, according to
the most approved literary models, and if our worship were artistic and
scientific, and arranged in a very orderly and aesthetic manner, and that
if we paid more attention to our ritual, to our methods of observances,
we should gather around us the cultivated and the refined, and the
sanctuary would be a i)lace of attraction. Brethren, standing here with
this book, which is God's, oj^en before me, I give it as my opinion that
such representation is a delusion and a lie. Men must have in them
spiritual power before they can relisli spiritual service. |' God is a
Spirit, and they who worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in

400 THE CITY TEMPLE.

trutli. The eye will weary of the finest clothing in the sanctuary ; the
ear will l)ecome sated with the most artistic oflferings of praise, and men
who are hungering after life and after sustenance for the soul will cast
away, as dry and useless husks, the grandest litei'ary pei-formances that
unsanctified genius can produce. If, therefore, we would relish the ser-
vices of the sanctuary, if we would have God's house a place near at
hand, if we would receive benefit for the humblest ministrant of God
that ever attempted to expound His Word, we must bring with us the
right spirit, the keen appetite, the intense desire, the spiritual faculty ;
and then the poorest table that ever was spread shall yield viands
nutritious, satisfying the soul's hiinger, and appeasing it. Have
we the Holy Ghost? Do not let us set up any arbitrary standard
by which we give an answer to that inqniiy. The Holy Spirit
does not work according to our notions of uniformity. The man who
has the Holy Ghost dwelling in him will not always be the same
man in power, will not always be the same man in readiness to do work
for Christ. The Holy Ghost is dwelling in us in our incomplete state.
He has to counteract in us everything that is depraved, to make up
d.ficiencies, to rectify things that are crooked and perverse, and there-
fore the same man will not always be the same worker, and yet he may
be conscious of having dwelling in him the Spirit of the most high God,
who is constantly engaged in endeavouring to bring him into obedience
with the Divine will, and qualifying him for Christian service. The
prophets had the Holy Ghost only occasionally ; the Holy Ghost visited
the prophets transiently. The prophets had a strange tumultuous
experience ; they were called up, borne away, strange sights were flashed
upon their vision, strange voices sounded in their soul. They did not
always \inderstand that which they spoke. But with us the case ia
different ; the Holy Spirit is given to us that He may abide with us for
ever. It is not an occasional fiash of light that we see ; it is constant day
with us. It is not an incomplete, abrupt, and startling articulation that
breaks upon the ear of our soul ; it is a testimony, steady, emjjhatic, com-
plete. "What manner of men, then, ought we to be ! what manner of
Chui'ch ought we to be, if we work up to the line of our S2:)iritual voca-
tion, and realize the fact that spiritual privilege is the measure of
pei'sonal responsibility ! I feel that our ministry— our service, at home,
in the school, in the pulpit, in business, everywhere, ought to be more
intensely spiritual. There maybe little said, and yet there may be much
felt. There may not be much outward demonstration, and yet there
may be a keen and irresistible influence brought to bear upon all the
relations by which we are surrounded. All that is outward, visible,
tangible, must go down. We ai"e not, therefore, to judge of progress by
these things ; but spiritual character, spiritual vitality, subtle influence
will exercise, intensity, and extend until men who are wicked wilHeel
themselves in our company in the presence of a ccnsuming fire, and
people that are good, in how little a degree soever, will feel in our pre-
sence as if the summer's sun had blessed them, and all the genial influences
of heaven were pouring themselves upon them. Now, is it so with us 1
Do we get into men's consciences 1 Do we trouble evil-doers 1 Do we
by our method of doing things, by our speech, and by our whole life get
into men's interior existence, troubling them when they are doing that

THE SIGNS OF A TRUE SIINISTRY. 401

•which is ■wrong, and blessing them when they are making even the
faintest attempts after that whicli is right 1 These are questions that
divide, if we heed them aright, the very marrow and bones. They ought
to be to us quick and powerful, searching our hearts, and compelling an
answer which will either bring us to deeper humiliation or excite us to
loftier joys. Let this be laid down as a rule. Let us never stray from
this great vital central truth ; that every man who is professedly in
Christ, and professedly doing CJirist's work, must prove the divinity of
his vocation, and the reality of his cliai'acter, not by oral profession and
ritual observance, but by the inexpressible, subtle, ever-present, and all-
convincing Influence which we describe in its completeness by the name
of the Holy Ghost. Don't let any man imagine that hence the day of
inspiration is gone. Allowing, which we are bound to do, (and which we
do not by constraint, but with all thankfulness to God for the testimony),
that the projjhets and the apostles spake by inspiration that was peculiar
to themselves and altogether incommunicable, still, so long as the Holy
Ghost lives, the Church in which He dwells must be a Church inspired.
We mistake inspiration, if we imagine that it is limited to the making of
a new Bible, to the wiiting of new prophecies, and the delineation of a
new Christ. We need to be inspired in all that we may interpret. The
Bible is constantly a new Bible to the man who has the Holy Ghost in
bim, because to him it is given to see new profundities in the Divine
Word, clearer lustre in the heaveidy testimony ; and to him, also, it is
given to see by a finer, cleai-er, tenderer expression what was meant hy the
wondrous, mysterious words which to the carnal mind are darkness and
folly. Let us pray for inspiration. We are not doing what is required
of us, if we are taking step by step with the common men of the world,
its common scholars, and its common thinkers, and its common writers.
There is power in xis, as Christians, whether private or public— a
specialty of talent, an intensity and clearness of perception into .spiritual
things which is altogether unattainable by men who only read common
books with common eyes. I am calling myself, therefore, and the
Church, to something that is very lofty, and altogether unique and
special. In doing so I feel that I am speaking imder the inspiration of
the Holy Ghost. We are not engaged in a contest that can be conducted
on equal terms. W^e have not to appeal to the understanding of the
world alone. We cannot put down in black and white, and in so many
sentences and paragraphs, the whole meaning that is in our soul, as the
very life of its comfort, its rest, its anticipations. Arithmeticians can
tell all they know ; poets can invite those who love them to accompany
them in their aerial flights ; men of science can take their scholars with
them step by step down to the very end of the brilliant journey ; but
the Christian teacher often can only hint and brokenly articulate the
things that are in him. When he has done his very utmost he has to
lift his finger, and point to lengths that have not been traversed — worlds
that have not been opened. He addresses the finest powers, the finest
sensibilities, the deepest chords, and the most urgent necessities of
human nature. He needs inspiration for this. His inspiration will not
always be understood. To the worldly, the carnal, the vulgar, and those
•who are under the dominion of the devil, his inspiration will often be as
an idiot's tale, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.

402 THE CITY TEMPLE.

IT. The text shows us, in the second place, that the true minislry is
av'maled hy the sublimest benevolence. If you will read the statement
given by the prophet, you will find throughout the statement a tone of
kindliness, benevolence, sympathy, gentleness, pity for all human
sorrow. " The Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the
weak. He hath sent me to bind wp the broken-hearted, to proclaim
liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are
bound ; to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord ; to comfort all that
mourn • to appoint unto theai that mourn in Zion, to give unto them
beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for
the spirit of heaviness." Therein may be known the true ministry of
the Gospel. Suspect every ministry that is gloomy. If you come into
contact with a preacher of Christ, or with a private expositor of
Christian truth, who is constantly enveloped in gloom and melancholy,
whose soul is in sorrow, and from w hose lips there never come the sounds
of music and joy, set it down as a fact that that teacher knows nothing
about the spirit of tlie Gospel. The key-note of the Gospel is joy ; the
watchword of the Gospel is liberty. The Gospel does not come to us to
make us sadder, to bring us down in the dust and keep us there, as if
we had no right to be up in the sunshine ; and therefore any ministry,
public or private, that increases our gloom, is a ministry that never
came out of yonder great central Light that is the Light of the universe.
A ministiy that interprets human sorrow downward, and makes some-
thing of it that should depress to still deeper depths human hearts,
human minds, is a gospel that is not of God. If any sermon, any private
advice we ever hear, tends to narrow and cramp human life, to break
our wings, and to shut us up in prison, that sermon — that advice— comes
not of Divine but of diabolic suggestion. And therefore I claim that
any man coming with such a gladdening testimony as this ought to be,
in the first instance at all events, heartily welcomed by the world. A
man that says, " I come with good tidings, to bind up the broken-
hearted, with a charter of liberty to them that are bound, to comfort all
that mourn," ought not to have ungracious welcome ; he ought to
bespeak the most affectionate, cordial attention of the word.

Now this is what is claimed on behalf of Christianity. The great
appeal which Christianity makes to the world is this : " I come to make
human life freer, grander, purer ; I come to open worlds in which
human life can be more perfectly developed ; I come to set man towards
man in the relation of brother towards brother ; to dry the fountain of
human sorrow ; to break the chains of human captivity ; to dispel intel-
lectual and moral darkness, and to bring in an unending summer day:"
and any religion that comes with a profession of that kind, even were it
nothinf^ moi-e, will, primd facie, demand to be heard as possibly for God.
Bretliren, especially those of you who are young and are under miscon-
ceptions as to the nature, the genius, and the purpose of Christianity, let
me call your attention to this fact, that wherever it comes it never comes
to men to make them less, to put their eyes out, to take them away
fx'om li»ht, to deprive them of music, and to shut them up in some
cramped position ; it always comes with hope, promise, insjjiratioa,
music ; and that I hold to be one of its first and most impressive pre ofs,
that it is not of human device, but of Divine inspiration.

THE SIGNS OF A TRUE MINISTRY. 403

III. The text shows, in the third and last place, that the true ministry,
whether public or pi'ivate, never shrinks from its more awful functions.
Observe this sentence in the midst ot' the declarations of the text : " To
proclaim the day of vengeance of our God." There must yet be a day
of vengeance in human history. Without a day of vengeance human
history would not be merely poetically incomplete, but morally im-
perfect. We must yet have the thunder and lightning ; there must
be a dragging forth of men to the judgment-seat. AW trampled rights
demand a day of vengeance ; outraged honour, insulted virtue, oppressed
weakness, call for a day of vengeance. The universe can never
enter into its possession of a complete and abiding heaven until every
son of perdition has been dashed into the unbottomed abyss of hell.
Heaven is no mixture — heaven is no heterogeneous association of all
kinds of character. Peace is impossible so long as impurity is in exist-
ence. Heaven will for ever remain unattainable, or at least incomplete,
until every enemy of Christ has been crushed under his feet — made
a footstool of.

The day of vengeance will be spiritual. We may figure the day of
vengeance by outward signs. We point to the fire, and we say, " There,
that is a symbol of the day of vengeance." We follow the course of the
lightning, and we say, "There, that is an emblem of vengeance." But
these things ai'e but outward symbols : the time and terrible vengeance
is spiritual. When a mans heart gets up within him and says, " Yes,
there is liar written on your forehead ; there is villain written on the
inmost folds of your life," that is vengeance. When evil memories are
awakened, and get I'ound a man like so many grim, grisly spectres, and
afiright him out of his self- contentment, that is vengeance. You cannot
beat a man with rods, aiid cause him to suffer to the utmost extremity of
his capability ; you cannot whip a man with cords till you have whipped
him enough : every man must whip himself. The Spirit of God must
be so revealed in a man that he will see himself as he really is, and pro-
nounce his own sentence upon himself, so that he shall turn himself
away from heaven, and fi'oni life, and from God, and from saints, and
say, " Yes, it is right ; I ought not to be there. If there is a devil in
the universe, he only can be my fit companion." When a man gives
way in that manner, when his heart collai)ses, when he gets up and says
to God, "Yes, I am visited with thy judgments : they are right and true
altogether," that is the day of vengeance. If we talk about the worm
that dieth not, and the fire that is not quenched, it is only because we
seek to typify by outward circumstances and figures that which never can
be explained by human language or human emblems. Vengeance is
spiritual. It is the self- tormenting conscience, the collapsing, self-accusing,
dying heart.

Then let us often stand before this text as before a judgment-seat.
Have we the Holy Ghost, or is ours but a feeble testimony we have
learnt from teachers that have no claim to Divine inspiration] Are we
a joy to all that mourn ] Are we eyes to the blind and feet to the lame ]
The cause we know not, do we search out 1 And does the neighbourhood
in which we live, the family in which we dwell, the business which we
work, feel that if we were withdrawn, our withdrawal would be as the
eclipse of a great light 1 Are we a terror to evil-doers ] Do villains

404 THE CITY TEMPLE.

turn aside when they see ns and say, " Oh, they are come again 1" Do
they hasten away with their evil looks and their vile machinations and
great and little knaveries, when they see ns coming, as men would
ilee from a fire and avoid a storm ; or do they welcome us — do they say,
" Well met, come in. We are doing this ; you will join us? " Is that
our Christianity ; something that will easily amalgamate with anything
that is going on, that can sit down anywhere and be quite at home, that
can fall into any habits and I'epronounce any language, without giving
people to feel that there is anything in us 1 Is that our Holy Ghost ]
The Christian ought to clear a space for himself wherever he goes.
Little children, humVjle hearts, mourning souls, reverent, noble, heavenly
minded persons ought to come round him and say, " Welcome in God's
name. Don't leave us : abide with us a long while ; " but knaves and
cowaids and hypocrites, people who are rolling iniquity under their
tongue as a sweet morsel — masked people — ought to feel terribly uncom-
fortable when a Christian man comes among them. They ought to
know him from afar. There should be surrounding him a kind of
atmosphere in which men that are evil cannot breathe and live — the
knave should shrink away from his sight, the coward should hide himself
in the lowest and vilest dust — and the man who was contemplating some
keen, clever stroke, in which there should be dishonour and iujustice,
shoidd feel himself paralyzed, disabled, half-damned, in the presence of a
man whose soul is a-fire with Divine truth.

A SERMON

PfiEACHED BY

JOSEPH PAEKEE,

In the Poultry Chapel, on Sunday Morning, June 19th, 1870.

PAUL'S LETTER TO PHILEMON.

" Pau], a prisoner of Jesus Christ, unto Philemon our dearly beloved and
fellow laboui-er." — Philemon, ver. 1.

It would appear that a man named Onesimvis had run away from his
master, Philemon, and that during the period of his absence — an unlaw-
ful absence under the circumstances — he had received Christian benefit
from the instruction of the Apostle Paul. He had, indeed, become
converted to Jesus Christ. He who was formerly a worldly, selfish man,
had become a Christian indeed, and under these new and better circum-
stances a difficult question arose as to his future. As a matter of fact,
without going into the question of slavery at all, Onesimus did, in
some sense or other, belong to Philemon. There were cex'tain civil rela-
tions between the two, and those civil relations must be recognised and
honoured. The Apostle Paul having been the means of converting
Onesimus, did not say to him, " Now you must make the best of your
case j I have nothing to do with your civil position ; you must go back
to Philemon and make as good a case out for yourself as you can; I have
got nothing at all to do with that." Had Paul spoken so, he might have
escaped a very delicate and difficult business. But the Apostle Paul
was not the man to run away from difficult questions, and to make him-
self as easy as possible Having been the means of giving this man the

40

406 THE CITY TEMPLE.

liberty of Divine grace, he boldly, witb all the force of his character and
all the Siigacity of his intellect, confronted this very difficult qiiestion of
the return of Onesimus. How did he act 1 He wrote a private

• personal note to Philemon. He does not write in his strictly apostolic
capacity ; not in an imperative and commanding tone. He writes a
note of conrtesy ; and before going into the great principles which under-
lie this beautiful little story, I want us to look at the clever, ingenious,
effectual manner in which the Apostle approaches, discusses, and settles
the question. He makes a good deal of himself, does Paul, in this
letter ; and it is possible for a man to make a good deal of himself with
the one view of making a good deal of somebody else. " A very subtle
inflexion of selfishness," one would say, from many of the little sen-
tences in this letter. "Why, Paul is elevating himself; he is making a
good deal of his own history ; he is putting his own claims pretty fully
forward in this note, after all, and therefore he must be a very vain-
glorious man." That criticism would be entirely beside the mark ; it
woiald be flippant, foolish, false. It is true the Apostle does make
a good deal of himself ; but oh, with what gracefulness does he tui-n and
put the whole of his personal claims as so much weight to be given to
the case of Onesimus ! He says, " I am a prisoner of Jesus Christ — a

- man whose one hand is bound to a soldier by a chain. I am in bondage,
and I am using the hand that is not chained to write this private urgent

• note to thee, beloved Philemon." There is a touch of i)athos. Then he
proceeds to recognise, in ample and graceful terms, the Christian stand-
ing and service of Philemon. " I thank my God, making mention
of thee always in my prayers, hearing of thy love and faith, which
thou bast toward the Lord Jesus, and toward all saints, for we have
great joy and consolation in thy love." There is a great art in saying true
things i-ight up to — yet just under — the point of what men call flatteiy.
There is a skill in naming one by one, in cumulative order, the services
which any man hae rendered, and yet to save that nomination of services
from the charge of fawning and adulation. Paul boldly recognises
what Philemon had done, blesses him in the name of the Lord, and
shows how clear, how vivid and faithful, was his own memory of all

' that Philemon had done for the Christian caiise, and then he has to turn
, and come to the business. There is a great art in getting round a
corner. Some are always getting wrong just there. They go round so
sharply, so incautiously, that if there is anybody in the way, even if
' there is any post in the way, up they go againt him or it, as the case
may be, and they suffer accordingly. Yes, some of your young men
mi^ht learn a good deal about these little common things in the New
Testament. Paul has to get round a corner. Up to this point he has

PAUL'S LETTER TO PHILEMON. 407

managed well, but now he lias to bring the argument and the persuasion
to bear. How does he do it 1 He says, in the eighth verse, *' Though
I might be bold in Christ to enjoin thee — though I might use the *
imperative mood and say, ' Do this,' yet I won't." There is something v
better than the imperative mood. Tilings are not always best done
when you say roughly and bluntly, " ])o that." There is a more
excellent way. " For love's sake, I rather beseech thee." Now you
throw the responsibility upon the man. If it had been a question of
direct and distinct order, " Do it," then the responsibility would have
rested upon the sagacity of the commander; he would have the responsi-
bility of saying, "This is right : do it." But, with the wondrous
gracefulness of a courtesy which cannot be taught in the schools for so
many coppers a week, he says, "For love's sake, I beseech thee;" and
then he adds a stroke full of pathos, " being such an one as Paul the
aged ;" and he adds another stroke to that pathos which is more pathetic
still, "and now also a prisoner of Jesus Christ."

Now, he makes all this out in his own case ; he collates his own
experience, and virtues, and excellences in this way, that he may use *
them in the interests of a runaway slave. This is the true use of life, to
gather up all one's education, advantages, services public and private, to •
combine them into one grand testimony, and to ui'ge that testimony, not
on our own behalf, but on behalf of some poor weak castaway creature.
We use our greatness well, when we use it to make other people fi'ee,
and happy, and safe. The grace of God is in a man in this — that all he
is, and has been able to do, is given in the interests of humanity. And
how clearly and beautifully is that grace seen, when it is all used for the
restoration of a runaway slave, whom many persons might have thought
might have been blotted out of existence, and the worhl would be none •
the poorer. But this is Christian teaching, that no man is to be despised. •
No man can be done without. The coarsest pebble on the road, as well
as the most polished and elaborately carved column, or coi-uice, or orna-
ment in the cathedral or the palace, must be used and held in pro-
portionate honour. This, then, entirely destroys any force there might
be in the insinuation that Paul has made a good deal of himself in this "
private note to Philemon.

And this brings ns up to this point. We have done something, we are
something, we have had advantages of birth, of education, of social
position. Are we prepared to turn all these advantages to the account
of a poor downtrodden hopeless creature ; and are we prepared that our
life should become the life of other people, so that the poorest may say
and the vilest, " as long as that Christian man has life I have hope : he
will work for me ; he will put down all his advantages, and he will

408 THE CITY TEMPLE.

make all these advantages so many stepping-stones by which I may
cross over my difficulty, and find my way to restored position, to
recovered happiness." He who lives so lives twice. He who lives in
this way never dies.

So much then for the personal matter, so far as the case of Paul is
concerned. Now, what is the great principle of the gravest import and
of the widest application which we find in this story 1 It is the great
principle of mediation. Christianity is a system of mediation. There
is one Mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus. We may
see this principle or doctrine of mediation more clearly and simply here
than we can see it as a Christian mystery. Yet, looking at it under
these circumstances, it may help us to bear the blaze of its glory as the
grand fact in our present disciplinary condition. Is there a young
hearer in this chapel who does not understand the meaning of the word
mediation, or mediate, or mediator 1 I saw some sturdy little ones
coming into the chapel this morning, and I was quite delighted to see
the little toddling creatures coming into this place of worship, for I had
been given to understand that certainly there were no children in the
City on a Sunday ; and I wondered whether I could ever do this — make
clear what is meant by " mediation," but I gave it up. I said " No, it
cannot be broken small enough for those little creatures." But perhaps
it may be explained to those who are two or three years older.

Now, what is the meaning of this word mediate, mediation, mediator 1
You find it in the New Testament ; what is the explanation of it 1
Suppose that your father has l.ieen very angry, by something that you
have done ; and suppose you are so ashamed of having done it that you
dare not look your father in the face ; you would rather go ten miles
than look at him. You know you have done wrong, and that he has a
right to be very angry with you indeed, and so you say, " I dare not
look at him ; I cannot go to him." And suppose your sister should come
to you, and say, " Now you have done wrong, and your father is very
much grieved indeed ; he is full of just anger ; and yet I do not like to
see you and him separated in this way — don't like to see you in this
condition of dishonour, and fear, and trembling, being afraid of your
own father's face. I'll tell you what I'll do, I'll go and speak to your
father for you, and I'll tell him you are very sorry, and that if he will
forgive you you will be very glad, and you will come and throw yourself
at his feet, and ask his pardon. Now, I'll do that ;" and your sister
goes away to your father, and explains the case, and asks his pardon, and
tells how sorry 3'ou are, and asks him to see you, and talk the thing over
with you from beginning to end, and see if you cannot both get together
again. What is your sister 1 She is a mediator ; one who stands in

Paul's letter to philemon. 403

the middle, who goes first to one, and then to the other. She is a
mediator. Now, I say that in this little letter we have the principle of
mediation acted upon, shown in one of its tenderest and most impressive
aspects. What is Paul here 1 Paul is the mediator. He does not say
to Onesimus, " You must go and face your master yourself, and make the ,
best of the case you can." He says, " I will go between you. I will
write a letter. I will tell Philemon just how the case stands, and I will
plead for you." Paul was the mediator, therefore, in that case.

Here you have one man doing something for the sake of another.
That is one of the advantages of mediation, and the highest advantage of
the mediation of Jesus Christ. Philemon is to do something, for Paul's
fake. He is in the meantime to overlook the case of Onesimus
altogether, and to do soaiethiug in the case ; because Paul asked him to
do it, Now, we are in the habit of saying in our prayers and in our
pleading with God, and before him, " Do this, for Christ's sake."
Philemon was to do it for Paxil's sake ; and we are taught thereby
somewhat of the mystery by which God moves towards men, for Christ's
sake. " Granted that Onesimus deserves to be scourged, to be affiicted,"
Paul says, "for my sake don't do it." Suppose (which indeed is no
supposition, but a reality of the gravest kind) that the sinner deserves to
be driven from the presence of God, and to be banished into outer dark-
ness for ever. Christ says, " Don't do it. Look at the cross, at these
wounded hands, and wounded feet, and by the blood which was shed in
sacrifice — according to thine own infinite love was that blood shed —
pardon the sinner, recall him to hope ; don't cut him down, but give
him opportunity of repentance and restoration." We cannot feel these
Christian mysteries, you observe, quite as closely and sharply as a case of
mediation between man and man ; but, so far as we can hint at the
meaning, that is the explanation which I have now endeavoured to
make. As Philemon was asked to do something for Paul's sake, to a man
who had dishonoured him, so Almighty God is implored, for Christ's
sake, to hear our prayers, and to give us extended opportunity of obtain-
ing restoration to His favour, and to the peace which we lost when we
committed sin. Here is one man making himself responsible for another.
Paul made himself responsible for Onesimus. He said, "If he hath
wronged thee or oweth thee ought, put that on mine account. I, Paul,
have written it with mine own hand, I will repay it." Now, here is a
principle of mediation that is intensely practical. There is a mediation
which begins and ends with mere argument and expostulation, that con-
sists in a skilful putting to the party who is in auger of the case of the
party who has disgraced himself; but you do not advance to the further
point, and become responsible for him in any degree. You shrink at

410 THE CITY TEMPLE.

that point. You say "No, I simply state the case, and advise such and
such a course ; but I do not enter into any obligations or responsibilities
about it." But here is Paul, who carries out the principle of mediation
further than mere argiiment. He says, " If this runaway slave of thine
owes thee anything, or has wronged thee, make a bill out for me. Put it
down to my account ; I will repay thee." And is there not a sense,
never to be explained, because never to be comprehended, in which
Christ is making up to justice, and truth, and honour, and divinity, all
that we have done that has been wrong, untrue, impure, false, mis-
chievous ] Jesus Christ stood in the sinner's stead. Jesus Christ
received the blow which would have destroyed the world. Argue about
it as you please, refine and contend with much skill of language and
persistence of tenacity, but you come I'ound again to some principle of
substitution in the case of the woi-k of Jesus Chi'ist. " He was
wounded for our transgressions ; He was bruised for our iniquities. The
chastisement of our peace was upon Him. He was delivered for our
offences." He was the Lamb of God that took away the sins of the
world. Granted that there may be many little refinemeuts upon these
words, and many different ways of explaining them, yet, under all the
explanation, you must get at some principle of substitution — Christ
standing in man's stead — or, where you explain one difficulty, you invite
a thousand.

Here is one man having joy in the restoi-ation of another. " Yea,
brother," says Paul, "let me have joy of thee in the Lord." Paul will
be the happier for the restoration of Onesimus. True, Onesimus is only
a servant ; yet if he be restored Paul will be made glad. " Let me have
joy in thee, brother, in the restoration of this poor runaway servant of
thine." And is not this a feature of the highest life 1 Having joy in
seeing the prodigal home again ; being glad when people that were on
the outside are brought in, and are entertained with the hospitality of
reanimated friendship — this is true life. Alas ! there are son^e of us
that do not care much what becomes of anybody that is a few yards
from us. If we are told that they have been recovered and saved, we
may tamely, and with an insipidity that is sickening, say we are glad to
hear it ; but that is not life — that is a satire u])on life, a wretched
travesty on all that is divine in our nature. He lives who lives in
otheis, and whose soul expands, and glows when it hears tliat some poor
wretched creature has been taken up out of the dust, has been recovered
to confidence, and has been set up in some high place of honour and
esteem. Just as we reach that feeling, just as we understand that prin-
ciple, do we come into the mystery of that love which fills the heart of
the Saviour, and gives him satisfaction for the travail of his soul.

Paul's letter to philemok. 411

Now, friends, we cannot do without mediation ; we cannot open the
door of God's temple, and go right into Hira and face it out. Just in
proportion as we think we can do it, do we put ourselves awav
from all the meaning and the comfort of the cross of Christ. One
of two things is true. If the sinner can go to God and argue God
down, and by the sheer force of logic and self-vindication claim a place
in heaven, then the cross of Christ is the infinite blunder of Infinite
Wisdom. If a man can go back to God, and put his case before
Him so clearly and justly as to demand an acquittal, then all this
system of mediation founded in Christ, expressed by His agony, con-
firmed by His blood, is the most criminal blunder of which any intelli-
gent being could be capable. Let us be clear upon this point, or we
shall never be Christians. A man must get down to that point of self-
accusation which compels him to say, " I dare not look at God ; I dare
not ask an interview ; I should be consiimed by the blaze of God's dis-
honoured justice and holiness ; I dare not see Him." When he gets
down there he will be prepai'ed for a Gospel ; and then, when some
minister of Christ or friendly monitor comes to him and says, " There is
a Mediator between God and men ; He will see God for you ; He will
make your case His own ; He will put it before God in connection with
His own name," then the man, if he be really tormented by this self-
accusation, will leap at the tidings ; he will be glad at the announce-
ment ; he will say, " Abide with me ! Tell me more about thLs. .
Explain it more fully." And he will say to this Mediator, " Blessed
Saviour, take my case for me; in Thy hands it is safe. Intercede for me.
Lord, I believe ; help Thou m.ine unbelief ■" and out of that there shall
come all that is known of the mystery of spiritual freedom and the
restoration of the soul.

Think of Onesimus without the letter. He is going back to Phi-
lemon, and has no letter ! He is puzzling his brain as he goes along to
know how to begin when he sees Philemon — what to say — how to make
a beginning, to put the case into anything like shape ; and he does not
know. He says, "I think I shall run away again. I really can't tell
how to put this case. What can I say but that I am ashamed of myself,
and that I am sorry for myself, and that I beg his pardon 1 He won't
believe me. He'll say, ' Yes, you beg my pardon now ! When you find
you can't do better elsewhere, you come back here, do you, with your
fine apologies and long explanations, and your hypocritical tears and
canting sobs ! That's the way you do it, is it ?' " He says, " I think I
shan't go ! I can't go ! " That is Onesimus without the letter. But
Onesimus with the letter ! He says, " This is the letter ; I shall say
nothing to him ; I shall just put this into his band ; he'll know Paul's

412 THE CITY TEMPLE.

writing ; he'll woncler how ever 1 got hold of this letter, and he'll read
the letter before he says anything to uie." He says, "Oh, I mnstn't
lose the letter — I mustn't lose the letter ! This letter is my life ;
it is pleading for me. All Paul's great heart is in here. I nuistn't
lose the letter !" The letter saves him. Think of a sinner without
Christ ! How he is reasoning ; how he is beating his brains; how he
is goading his mind to suggest plans, and shapes, and arguments, and
defences ! And it all conies to nothing. Then think of the sinner
with Christ ! He says, " Oh, it is this Cross that I am going with ; I
shall hide myself behind the Cross ! I shall not open my lips at all till
I have been found behind the Cross ; and then, when I do o])en them, I
shall only say, 'God be merciful to me a sinner.' " No man ever went
to God in that way that was not instantly called in and set down to
the hospitality of infinite love. "There is joy in the presence of the
angels of God over one sinner that repenteth."

€ X i iJ C c 111 |) I e.

A LECTURE

DELIVERED BY

JOSEPH PAEKEE,

In the Poultry Chapel, on Thursday Morning, June 23rd, 1870,

RAILWAY CRIES.

It was announced in this chapel on Sunday morning last, that attention
would be called to-day to a subject which could not more clearly be
described, though disliking the novelty of the name, than by " Railway
Cries." As the announcement was made on Sunday morning, of course
no reference could possibly have been made to the appalling and heart-
rending railway accident which has stricken all England with horror
within the last few hours. Indeed, I have no intention whatever of
referring to railway accidents — cries of anguish, "moans of distress and
helj)lessness — my subject lies in an entirely different direction. Still I
am sure I speak the sentiment of eveiy heart in this assembly when I
say we do most fully and tenderly sympathize with all who to-day are
mourning one of the most afflicting accidents of modern times. We com-
mend them and the mystery of their affliction to Him who knows nothing
of accidents, and who, by His wonderful method of government, turns
even accidents into blessing, and causes hearts to bless Him where they
expect to faint or despair.

It has occurred to me that a few words, based upon the cries which
are heard at all principal railway stations, of instruction and stimulus,
might be addressed to the young. I have young men, therefore, and
yoiing women, principally in view, in calling attention to some three or
four of these well-known, and to me, when morally interpreted, impres-
sive and instructive cries.

You have been in a railway station when trains have been preparing
to go East, West, North, and South, and wheus uddenly and startlingly,
in a clear and commanding tone, half a dozen men have shouted at once,
"Where are you for?" — a very important question in a railway station,
and everywhere else. Here are trains starting in all directions, and you
are standing upon the platform, and it is demanded of you, " Where are
you fori" Suppose a man should say in reply to that question, " I do
not know where I am for," it would not require very long time to sit in

41

414 THK CITY TEMPLE.

inquest upon that case, and there nvouIcI be perfect unanimity m tlic ver-
dict that the man was a fool. It is amazing, however, how these verdicts
and opinions ujwn people are turned back upon ourselves, oftentimes
with tremendous accumulation of force and poignancy of application.
There are men to-day in this great city, and in all cities, who, if you
put the question to them, " Where are you for 1 " will not be able to
return a sensible reply to the inquiry. They may tell you the direction
of their immediate ei-rand, they may point out this street or that as their
destination ; but looking at the question as involving the future, as
touching upon afiairs of destiny, they absolutely know nothing. They
are groping round an endless lane ; they hope to arrive somewhere, and
they have a dull impression that probably it will be somewhere that may
after all be for the best. But is this a right way of going on in life 1
Ought not a man to have something definite before his own mind I I
know that all our 2:)lans and purposes are subject to modifications, arising
from influences about which no just calculation can be made , but looking
at life broadly and sensibly, ought not every young man in particular to
have some definite object before him, and to be able to say, " I am
moving in this direction ; I intend to go forward in this pursuit ; I
have examined it ; I have calculated possibilities and consequences, and,
God helping me, I am for tliis object, or for thaf? " What is your plan
of life 1 Where are you for ? After all, you have blamed the man at
the railway station, who did not know where he was for ; how might he
turn round upon you with blasting chastisement, and say, " If I do not
know where I am going to enjoy a few hours of the day, who are you
that you should reprove me and sneer at me, v/heu you know nothing
about your own destiny, or where eternity may find you V " If the light
that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness ! " If you can, and
can justly, sneer at a man who having gone to the station does not know
whei'e he is for — if you have intelligence enough to do that, then by
that little speck of intelligence I blind thee, I confound tliee, if thou dost
not know where thou art for in the great outgoing towards destiny.

Well, people having told where they are for, so much progress having
been made, probably you remember how the same voices call out to you
in an equally commanding tone, " Take your seats." And that remark
is not original in railway stations ; it does not belong to railway stations
altogether. They have no exclusive right and property in the command-
ment. Now, every man in life ought to have a seat, a position, a distinct
place that belongs to him, and that he ought to be found in. Almighty
God has not turned us out upon the earth in order that we might live a
life of scrambling and contention ; He has a purjiose in our being here,
and we are to ascertain that pui-pose as closely as we can, and to follow
it out. Every man, therefore, ought to look about for his position, and
he ought not to be content so long as he has in his heart a haunting

IIAILWAY CRIES. 415

feeling tliat he is in somebody else's position. I can never forget
standing in a great raihva}^ station, and l)eing convulsed with laughter
by a scene that occurred there. A man came iiito the station with a hat
on which surely nobody ever did make, and with clothes on that I am
Riire ninety-nine out of a hundred would hardly touch, except with an
instrument half a mile long, lest there might be^ something more than
clothes ; and this poor man, with his long stick and a bag in his hand,
went straight into one of the finest first-class saloon carriages, lighted
with gas, that was standing at the station. Unquestionably, you felt>
"■ That man has no right there ;" but then it Avas one of those misplace-
ments of one's self that did not amount to giving anger or offence to any-
body, but simply to the provocation of laughter ; and a porter, who
seemed to be a common-sense and straightforward man, went to him at
once, and without any question being put he says, " Come out here !"
There is a spirit in a man, and the inspiration of the Almighty giveth
him understanding. There is a fitness of things ; there is a law of pro-
portion in society. Every man has a seat, but there is a possibility of
men getting into chief seats that ought to be sitting upon stools, and
though there are many first-class passengers in third-class carriages,
there are, alas ! many third-class passengers in first-class saloons. Still,
every man ought to feel that Divine Providence has a position — a place
— for him, and he ought to find that j^lace out, or do his diligence to find
it out, and to be content with it, improving it as far as he can ; but
having ascertained that God has called him to that position, his first
feeling ought to be one of contentment and thankfulness.

And do we commence the journey immediately after we have told
where we are for and have taken our seats ] No. The same people who
have addressed iis up to this point seem never to have done with us ; not
only with bell-ringing, and door-slamming, and strap-fastening, and
wheel-banging and trying, but questions of a more personal nature.
Hence the same men will call out to you after you have taken your seats,
" Show your tickets ! " A most impertinent demand indeed, one would
think. And yet after all there must be a good deal of ticket-showing in
life, if things are to be upon an orderly basis, and we are to get on
comfortably and straightforwardly in the world. Every man must have
some kind of credential or other, to explain and justify the position he
liolds. Every man must sooner or later show his ticket. Suppose a
man had shown a third-class ticket in a first-class carriage, I apprehend
the porter would not have said, " You've made a little mistake, but it's
no matter." 1 rather think he would show him down the train some-
where. But if a first-class ticket were sliov/n in a third-class compart-
ment, probably the porter might not be so veiy rigorous in Ids morality.
Still, justify your position : show your tickets ; have some certificate, or
proof, or warrant, or a\ithority, for being where you are. It is needless

416 ' TlIK CITV TEMPLE.

to point out that I am not referring, in giving these directiQ,ns, to mere
pieces of paper, to parchment certificates, or to sealed tickets, but a man
must have some mark for being where he is. Be he statesman, or philo-
sopher, or banker, or tradesman, he must at one period of his life or
other justify by a sufficient warrant the occupation of his position,
Supjiose a man had taken out, in reply to the words "Show your tickets,"
a beautifully engraved address card, that would not have done. There
is not a porter on the line that would not have sneered at that — a very
nice thing for making a morning call about six o'clock in the evening
with, but not for travelling. Suppose a man in reply to the question, on
the demand " Show your tickets," had taken out a wedding card — that
would not have done. " Why," you say, " does life turn iipon as little
things as these T' Yes, it docs. Little things represent life. Little
things turn the world. Little things represent great equivalents. It is
not the piece of card the porter is satisfied with. It is because behind
that there is an equivalent that represents a transaction completed, and
therefore it is enough. What right have we to be where we are? Every
man must prove his own i-ight. We may say, " This man has no claim
to be here, and that man has no right to be there,'' bxit every man lias
to prove his own standing-ground. You may give a man all the tickets
and certificates and testimonials that wealth can possibly furnish, and
yet you cannot make a man of him. No man can be made altogether of
buttons; no man can justify his right to an influential position in society
by pointing to a handful of papers. These papers must represent some-
thing more than themselves. Under that, before that, explanatory of
them, 'there must have been great deeds, noble sufferings, heroic services,
or beneficent energies. Yes, and men have sometimes to show their
tickets. Sometimes I have been with men who, in reply to the question
or demand " Show your tickets," have grumbled out in a kind of half
sleepy way, " Season," and the j)oiter, somehow, has not quite believed
them, and he has said, " I mnst look at it, sir, if you please." Yes, a
man cannot take a ticket at the beginning, and call out " Season," to
everybody that asks him what right he has to be there. He must renew
his position— he must renew his claim — he must again and again do
certain things that will give him a further hold and lease upon public
confidence and social honour. It cannot be done once fur all. My
dear young friends, you cannot in your teens do something that will
save all your after life from any further service. You may take a good
long spell at once ; you niay do some noble thing that will go on
sounding and reduplicating for a few years ; but you must again and
again renew yourselves, and prove tljat your manhood is not stagnant,
but a continuous and mighty development.

Well, do we go now 1 No, no, not yet. We have told where we are
for ; we have taken our seats, we have shown our tickets, and now the
porters and officials begin to talk between themselves ; they let us alone

RAILWAY craES. 417

now ; and you will hear up and do\>'n the train tlie cry, " All right 1"
Whistle ! Go ! I must not let that lesson remain in the railway
station ; I must l)ring that out with me. It is a lesson for life. We
have, examination, careful processes of scrutiny, and then the word is
passed one to another, " All right in front !" "All right behind 1 " " All
right here !" and then " Go !" That is your programme in life, young
man, if you are wise. Know where you are for, take your seat, show your
ticket, ascertain you are all right, and then go on! Many people can
tell where they are for, where they want to go ; and they can take a
seat, and they can show a ticket, but there is no " go " in them. Few
people have courage to go. Don't go before you are all right ; but,
being all right, go ! Have you a new thought, have you examined it,
weighed it, tried it by the standards of the sanctuary ■? Yes, Then go
and tell it. Have you a high and noble sentiment"?— are you sure about
it ? Yes. Then go ! Have you a deep, earnest conviction that you
ought to speak upon this subject or upon that 1 Then go ! The train
would stand still there for ever but for the command to go. It is not
enough to be right as to your destination, right as to your position,
right as to your certificate, there must be that moving power in you that
goes with perseverance, and that attains its end. I have known people,
intelligent, quiet, respectable, honourable people, who never yet did go.
Well, there are some very nice walking sticks indeed that never did
take themselves out of the umbrella stand, and you could infallibly pi-e-
diet that they would be there just so at any given hour in the year. We
must be something better than very nice, straight, strong polished walking-
sticks ; w^e must go ! But you say " It is pleasanter to stand still." I
do not think it is — not in the long run. A man gets tired of standing
still as much as of going. God meets men by extremes ; He makes
indolence a weariness as well as industry ; makes covetousness a loss, as
well as prodigality. Oh ! if every man in this large assembly would
only "go," the world would be the better for it. But so many of us
have clear conceptions, just ideas, high sentiments, right principles, but
we want that peculiar something which I cannot better describe than by
the expression "decision to go." We are not^to ask if anybody else is
going ; we are to go ourselves. You are not to say " I am waiting till
my companion is ready to move, and then I shall be forthcoming ; "
every man must go on his own account, his own errand, and according
to his own conviction.

Well, they have gone then — gone ! We have seen the train move
away, the station is cleared, the passengers have departed. Is that all '?
No. In five or six hours there is another cry. Men look into every carriage
window, and say, " All change here ! " Yes, "All change here!" That is
a cry — a pathetic and saddening- cry, tliat comes over our life sometime
or other. We are boys at school — all so glad and happy ; we make work
day into holiday ; we pledge eternal friendship to one another ; we shall

418 THE CITY TEMPLF.

never cease to tliiiik about eacli other's welfare, and to care for each
other's prosperity ! And, having made a vow of this high kind, a voice
comes to us, and says, " All change here !" and our school is broken up.
We part, with the best intentions to see one anotlier again, and help
one another, but there is no renewal of the friendship of happy school-
days ; we '' change ; " we see one another no more. And then there is
a time when families get together in the sick chamber, and the physician
comes to look at his sick patient, and by the shadow on his face, by the
shaking of his head he says — says mixtely, but not less pointedly, " All
change here !" Yes ; the father dies, the property is sold, the survivors
take their way in life ; widowhood and orphanage are now new names
and new phases. "All change here!" I dare say there may be jjeople
in the world who can change fifty times a day, and cai-e nothing about
it ; but any man who has a solemn view of life, and a tender heart, can-
not look at these changes without putting to himself the question, " Is
there not some high moral monition in these alterations and re-arrange-
ments of society 1 If so, what is it 1 Let me take heed to it." To think
of passengers in a railway train parting in anger, having had a long con-
tention on the road — parting from one another with threatening and
malediction — why that is not pleasant ; it throws a shadow over one's
journey, and haunts one after getting home with a feeling of ixnpleasant-
ness. And yet there are some of us, I am afraid, that will part so in the
great journey. Families that will be called upon to change here, and they
won't have any opportunity of saying how sorry they were for that harsh
expression, how their hearts fail them when they think of having given
pain ; and they would give a world if they could only have one clear
hour with somebody they have injured. Let us move in the spirit that
testifies that these associations will be broken up ; and let us hold one
another in tender regard, and high estimation — cease from uttering any
words that would give needless pain to any human heart.

I have noticed about railway stations that there are many people there
who are very busy in starting others, but never go themselves. Am I
wrong in bringing that down into this sanctuary in severe application to
myself, and in tender remonstrance with my brethren in the ministiy,
with Sunday school teachers, with all heads of houses 1 Is there not a
possibility for us to be very anxious and careful about starting other
peopk on the journey, but never going ourselves 1 I may have explained
to my congregation how men may get to heaven. I may have been
favoured with clearness of expression and emphasis of utterance, so as
to have made some good impression upon those who have heard me, and
yet it is possible that I may be standing liei-e without taking one step
on the shining road myself. Need I say — need I affiict you with common-
place, in saying how possible it is to know when to start, and how to
start, and what course to take, and yet always to be only giving the

KAILWAY URIKS. 419

information, witlioiit acting upon that informat ion ourselves ] "What a
judgment day will be ours ; what an all inclusive and all-determining
reply may be made to us, if such be our unhappy lot. You parents arc
anxious that your children should go in the right way. Even parents
who are consciously wrong themselves are often careful about their
children's moralities, their children's discipline, and virtue. It is not
enough that you be careful about your family. What if they turn round
upon you, and say, " Why don't you go first 1 Why don't you show us
the way ?" Brethren, I put these questions earnestly, but Oh ! ^vith such
trembling of heart as amounts to self-accusation, lest in saying this I be
but aggravating my own condemnation.

I have seen people come to railway stations, and have heard official
persons say "Too late." The train has moved on, and they have been
left behind. How humiliating ! How the men who are left behind
begin to explain to themselves how it was. If they had not remained to do
so and so they would have been in ample time ; if they had been content
to have done just a little less they would have been perfectly punctual ;
and they begin to accuse themselves, and to increase their mortification,
by the reflection that they coiild have helped this if they had only takea
care to do so. Brethren, it is possible, in another sense, to be too late.
The day of mercy is not endless. The sun of grace, once set, will rise no
more. There are opportunities ; we have to embrace them. And there
is nothing unreasonable in this definition of time that is given in con-
nection with religious exercises. If the agriculturist can say to the seed
sower " It is too late noio /" if the starter of a railway coach can say to
men " You are too late now f if the Post Office can drop its shutters and
its doors, and say " Too late noio ! " what, if in a higher realm, in
another sphere of thinking and of service, there should be an opportunity,
definition of time and calling, and that there should sound out from the
Divine spheres the utterance " You ai'e too late now ! " Does any poor
soul ask me when the time is, then, that men may be saved % "ifowis
the accepted time : now is the day of salvation."

I have seen men pursuing railway journeys who have mistaken the
station, and got out before they had reached their journey's end. They
have been going from north to south, and have got oiit two-thirds of the
way, and the train has gone on without them. It is possible, brethren,
for a man to live forty years of a Chi'istian life, and then to get out
at some way-side station, and to be left there, and never to reach the
metropolis of the universe.

" Where is he % "

" He was left behind."

" Why, he said he was coming ! "

" So he did, but he got out at a little station on the road, and we have
not seen him since."

420 THE CITV TE.MPLK.

" Well, but lie took lii« ticket ; he took his seat ; he knew wheve he
Avas going."

" Quite true; but, sonieliow or other, he got out, and is not here. That
is the sad fact."

" Let him that thinketh he staudeth take heed lest he falL" Men do
get out at the wrong place — men do get out, and don't get in again !
"What if some of us should live to advanced years in the Christian course,
and should then get out, and never be able to recover our forfeited
position ! We must never get out in any permanent sense until we have
reached the great City, whose streets are gold, and whose walls are jasper ;
and, once there, we shall go out no more for ever. Yes, and you young
men may get out very early on the journey, and never get in again.
Not long ago a young man called upon me to ask me questions about
theology and aboixt preaching, and about jiiilpit styles and methods,and
so forth ; and I had a long and frank talk with him upon these questions.
Not many hours after that a jjoliceman called at my house, to ask me, at
that young man's request, to go down and see him in a police cell. I
went early in the morning, and found the poor wretch tliei-e ; he had
been suddenly tempted — the devil had come down xxpon him like an
unexpected storm. He got out — he went before the magistrates, pleaded
guilty, and was sentenced to three months' imprisonment. " But three
months — that will soon be over." The magistrate said, " Three months."
Society says " For ever." Society never forgives. Society blots out of
its theologic creed the doctrine of etei'nal punishments, and then turns
round and inflicts the penalty vipon its own offenders. Yes, young
men, you may get out for three months, but if you do, you will never
probably, probahly never get in again. Let those who have ears to hear
heai', and may Cod give them understanding !

O Thou good Shephei-d^ who didst give Thy life for the sheep, we humbly
beseech Thee to pursue us by Thy mercy, until we be safely enfolded
beyond the reach of all i-avenous beasts. We have not gone where Thy
love caimot find us, for Thy love is as Thine own infinitude and eternity.
It shines in all light ; it breathes upon lis through the folds of the darkness
itself; it besets us behind and before. Our hearts are weary of their
wanderings; and they have run after rest, and have not found it. They
have eagerly pursued promised joy, and they have been afiiicted with
cruel hunger, and much pain. O Thou who lovest man, and who didst
signify Thy love by the great work of the Cross, give us to feel that in all
our wanderings Thou art near us ; that Thy heart's desire is that all
men maybe saved. Ai-rest us in our evil course; save us from the
snare of the destroyer, and enable lis to turn again unto the living Lord,
the eternal Love, and to find rest in Thy heart, Thou dear Christ. We
bless Thee that we have found Thee, because Thou didst first find us.
Mav we never be sundered more. Amen.

A DISCOURSE

DELIVERED BY

JOSEPH PAEKEE,

In the Poultry Chapel, on Thursday Morning, June 30th, 1870.

ON RECEIVING THE HOLY GHOST.

"Have ye received the Holy Ghost?" — Acts xix. 2.

Why should not each of us put this question to his own heai't as a
personal enquiry, as a question that ought to be answered as before God,
without equivocation and without self-deception, and without any
attempt to deal triflingly with the piercing and all-important interro-
gative 1 Let each heai-t say to itself, " Have I received the Holy Ghost?
I profess to have been redeemed by the blood of Christ ; my name is to
be found on the register of the Church ; I have a distinct Christian
status ; I claim to be a Christian ; but have I really, truly,, fully
received the Holy Ghost, the last, the crowning gift of God's infinite
gi'ace 1" If we treat the question in this way it will become to us as a
judgment seat, and why should we not ever and anon arrest ourselves in
the hurry and rush and delirium of life, to ask a question or two that
shall pierce the heart, and bi-ing us to a right knowledge and a proper
estimation of oui'selves. The Divine mediation is a progress. If you
will cai'efully read the Holy Scriptures you will find that God never
takes a backward step ; all His revelations have in them the spirit of
advancement, development, progress. You go back to type and shadow
and figure, to gorgeous and intricate ritualism, to forms and ceremonies
and richness of observance unparalleled, and such as would have sur-
passed the power of human fancy to figure out, or dream out for itself.
You come on to the Divine Man, the God Christ, and you do not pause
there as at a full stop. There the punctuation is only intermediate ; there

42

422 THE CITY TEMPLE.

is something to come after the Diviue Sou. He Himself said so — dis-
tinctly foretold and promised that another should succeed Him ; and
He calls Him by the loftiest and most endearing titles which can
express dignity and graciousness of character. That great One who was
to come was called " the Spirit of truth," and then He was called so
pathetically, and with such wondrous knowledge of what our hearts
Deeded — He was called " the Comforter." Now, from the begiuning to
the end, from the outline, the shadow, the type, to this gi'eat Spiritual
personality, this sovereignty of the Holy Ghost, there has been pro-
gress, advancement, culmination ; and in all these I see a grandeur most
impressive and instructive.

The Divine motion has always been towards spirituality ; God has
never rested content, so to speak, with the material, the outward, the
visible. The sun that is making the summer day for us is only a tem-
porary lamp ; and the great temples that we build, with their noble
domes and far-ascending spires, like mighty hearts up-lifted in prayer,
are only conveniences by the way. And this Holy Book itself is only a
school book that we have for the present. And the sacraments. Baptism
and the Lord's Supper, are but signs, symbols, set up on the I'oad. The
time is coming when there shall be no need of the sun, no need of the
moon ; when institutionalism shall be lost in spirituality ; for the seer
said, "I saw no temple therein." Why should we have the sign when
we have the substance ; and why the poor, cramped letter, imprisoning
the infinite wisdom and infinite tenderness of God, when we shall have
Himself, and stand before Him evermore in His temple ; for He him-
self is the temple, and there needeth no outward building, no outward
light — He is temple, and He is light ; and when we stand before Him
all that is material, visible, and most helpful by the way, will be no
longiir necessary.

Shall I pause here to caution some hearers against the possible mis-
interpretation of my words 1 Don't let any man run away with the
impression that I am undervaluing the house of God. Our houses would
be but poor dwelling places were not the temple of God amongst us.
Let no man imagine that I am undervaluing the sacraments ; we need
them ; they help us ; they recall our wandeiing memories and our in-
constant afiectious to help us by the way. Especially let no man think
that I have said one word which should in any degree impair the
authority and the sufficiency of the Divine revelation, the Holy Bible,
the Scriptures of God. Yet, with the highest reverence for all these,
seeing God in them, believing in them, and deriving help from them, I
yet believe that the time will come, in the progress of the Divine plan,
when sun, and temple, and moon shall be no longer needed in the light
of the Divine coimtenance, and in the infinite sufficiency of God's own
person. So much, however, we may say as indicative of the grand fact

ON RECEIVING THE HOLY GHOST. 423

which you students of history and students of men ought to ponder well
— that the Divine mediation has been a progress, and is hastening on to
a splendid culmination.

' Now, are we in the line of that progress, are we as far on as our
opportunities have enabled us to be ; or are some of us still lingering far
behind 1 Have some of us turned back to the beggarly elements 1
Have any of us sought to reconstruct the Temple of Solomon, and to
revive the wondrous drapery and adornments in'which priests were then
decorated ; or are we getting on becoming more spiritual, freer of the
material, closer to the Divine nature] I wovild that this question could
arrest us, and bind us down to itself until we have returned some
intelligent and devout answer to its im])ortunity. " Have ye received
the Holy Ghost f The reception of the Holy Ghost into a man's nature
cannot be matter of uncertainty ; and I should like to say, with most
poignant emphasis, we shall have a drivelling, effete, stupid, and all but
blasphemous life — blasphemous by reason of its very insipidity and
indifference — if we do not clearly understand this, that a man is not
left in doubt as to whether he is born again. It is not matter of debate
with the heart whether it has passed thi'ough the process called regene-
ration— whether it has passed from death unto life, " The Spirit
itself beareth witness with our spirit that we are the children of
God." There may be doubts as to times and circumstances ; there
may be difficulties in the way of full explanation ; there may be sobbing
and stammering in the exposition of our religious lustory ; and there
may be a timidity which amounts almost to shamefacedness ; yet out of
all, and through all, there will come this testimony — " Lord, I believe !
Help thou mine unbelief." I am not insisting that any man should be
able to rise, and with all clearness, and emphasis, and decision, proclaim
himself all that he could be expected -to be. That were a coiTupt Pha-
risaism, a regeneration from the devil ; a being born backwards and
downwards, and not being born into life, and light, and liberty. The
noblest, the ripest, the grandest member in the Church can hardly ven-
ture to mention more than this : " Brethren, I count not myself to have
apprehended, but this one thing I do, I press toward the mark " — a con-
tinuous endeavour, a never ceasing struggle, an apprehension of an
object, and an unconquerable determination to reach it. That is the
highest attainment known amongst us to-day. On the other hand, I
cannot but feel that there are peisons whose testimony is indis-
tinct, and cloudy, and pointless ; they make no imj^ression upon
those by whom they are suiTOunded. Their life is spent in an in-
sipid debating as to whether or not they have been really born
again. And in reference to them, I say, take heed, friend, lest by
this self-analysis and constant debating about yourself you be losiug
the very object of your life, and be grieving, if nc^t quenching, the

424 THE CITY TEMPLE.

Holy Ghost. And if thei-e can be no doubt about wbether a niau is
possessed of the Holy Ghost or not, there ought to be no possible fear of
an indiscriminate and promiscuous mixing vip of the Chui'ch and the
world. There will be broad lines of demarcation. There may not be
much profession that is purely verbal, but there will be a life that is
self-discriminating ; a terapei', and a speech, and a behaviour which
never can be accoimted for by the ordinary canons of human criticism
and interpretation. Men shall be given to feel, without our saying so
much in words, that we are not of the world ; that the evil one hath no
place in us ; that though yet we are in the flesh, our life is one con-
tinual and intense aspiration towards the holiness and perfectnessof God.
When that influence shall be exercised upon the world, men who talk
against Christ will at least be hushed into silence ; men who have been
timid in their testimony will be loud in their tribute, and those who have
done most will feel that they have done nothing.

And it ought farther to be said, that in the progress of the Divine life
to which we are called we get away little by little from the fleshly and
historical Jesus Christ. '' We know Christ no more after the flesh," and
if any of us foolishly dream that we would be tenderer in our love and
devouter in our worship, if the pierced, wounded Christ were to present
Himself to oar bodily vision, we are yet in bondage, and we know not
the sublimity and the freedom of spiritual life. Christ in the flesh would
be a continual stumbling-block. Christ in the flesh would divide the
Chui-ch ; there would be contention about Him, and a thousand difii-
culties would be invited where one difliculty was supposed to have been
met. It is of God's infinite wisdom and grace that He has taken away
the fleshly and visible Christ, and poured out upon His Church the Holy
Ghost, the Spirit of truth, the Spirit of worship, and the Spirit of comfort.

What then, are we no longer disciples of Christ 1 Is Christ a name
clean gone for ever, except on the pages of history 1 Is the Son of God
dismissed from His own sanctuary ; and are we no longer to dwell upon
the Name that is music, and the Cross that is emancipation 1 " When
He, the Spirit of Truth, is come, He will not speak of Himself." He
has not come to be a self-expositor — "He shall teach concerning me ;
He shall take things that are mine, and shall show them unto you. He
shall flll lip the measure that I must leave deficient ; because, though I
have many things to say anto you, yet ye cannot bear them now." So
then this Holy Ghost is an interpreter of Christ ; He enlarges Christ
before the vision of our love ; He increases our capacity to entertain
Christ in the hospitality of our hearts; He increases the halo — the nim-
bus of glory that is ai'ound the head of the Saviour, till we see Him • in
the perfectness of His essential glory. We do not leave Christ ; we get
nearer to Him. We do not leave the Gospels, we get more and more
deeply into the Gospel. It is true we do get power over the letter which

ON RECEIVING THE HOLY GHOST. 425

we had not in the absence of the full baptism of the Holy Ghost. We
see things in the letter and beyond the letter which we never saw before.
The letter is no longer to us final as to the glory and perfectness and
Godhead of tlie blessed Christ. And we cannot express all that we see
in the letter and beyond it. Many a time our eloquence becomes silence ;
our inspiration becomes a cry, a groan, that cannot be uttered in human
articulation so that others can understand. You know wliat this is.
You' have had such visions of Clirist as have caused you to overflow with
love. You have felt love within you as a river that has burst its banks
and deluged your very nature. It was by the ministry of the Holy Ghost.
Your glimpses, your visions, you wished them to abide there ; but no,
they passed on, and yet after they had gone, their very memory was to
you inspiration, strength, and heaven in pledge. We shall never get
away from Christ, "Without me ye can do nothing;" but we shall
never understand Christ fully until we are taught by the indwelling, all
illuminating, and all vitalizing Holy Ghost." " Have ye received the
Holy Ghost 1 "

What is the one decisive sign by which we may know whether /
we have received the Holy Ghost 1 Is it to be a mere sentiment,
an impression upon the mind, a religious hope ; or is it to be some-
thing more decisive, emphatic, and incontrovertible ? Do you ask a
question 1 I am prepared with a reply. What is the one decisive sign
that a man has received the Holy Ghost 1 Let me approach that ques-
tion through two others. Have you received the poetic spirit? How do i
you prove it 1 Not by prose, but by poetry. Have you received the ,
heroic spirit 1 How do you prove it 1 Not by cowardice, not by
craven-heartedness, but by adventure — by freely encountering peril in all
its thousand forms and possibilities of visitation. Have you received the
Holy Spirit 1 The decisive sign is love of holiness — not power of <
theological debate, not only contending for the faith once delivered to the
saints, not only outwardly irreproachable character, but love of holiness
— not reputation, but reality ; a heart that pants after the holiness of
God — life concentrated into one burning prayer to be sanctified, body,
soul, and spirit — life a sacrifice on God's altar — that is what I mean by
saying that holiness is the one decisive test of our having received the
Holy Ghost. Alas ! are not some professing Christians afraid to say
the woi'd " holy 1 " I find this in the course of my study of human
nature, and my intercourse with men, as a pastor and as a
teacher of divine truth, that I should be almost stai-tled if I
heard some men say the word " holy." It seems such a foreign
word to them — as if it would be out of place on their lips ; and
it is amazing with what cunning legerdemain many persons will
express their religious experience without using religious expression.
They "hope;" they "assent;" they would "fain believe;" they are

426 THE CITY TEMPLE.

"not without some idea" that so-and-so maybe the case; but a rich,
ripe, unctuous, emphatic expression of Christian experience would be
from their lips almost an anti-climax, if not a profanity. Brethren,
we are not called upon to do with as little Christianity as possible ; it
is not "Just get over the line and that will do ;" it is this, "Be ye perfect
as your Father in heaven is j^erfect ; be ye holy as God is holy." This
is tJie vocation to which we are called, and if, when men ask \is if we
have received the Holy Spirit, we only answer them by some theological
mystery, which neither they nor we can imderstand, then we lie not
unto men but unto the Holy Ghost.

And holiness is a word which may perhaps require, in the case of some
hearers, a brief analj'sis, that they may clearly understand what is meant
by holiness. There must in holiness be love of truth — truth as truth —
not tnith as an investment, not truth as the readiest answer for the
passing occasion, not truth as a palladium to save from some menace
that is much dreaded, but love of triith as truth — truth in doctrine,
truth in spirit, truth in life, truth in conversation. The Holy Ghost is
the Spii'it of truth, and where there is love of truth there will, as conse^
quent elements of holiness, be love of righteousness — pure, simple,
absolute, infinite righteousness. Things will be done in life, not because
they are convenient, but because they are right. Men will be prepared
at any moment for crucifixion, if crucifixion be their lot, as the servants
of righteousness. There will be no quibbling, no equivocation, no giving
of false expressions, no deceitfulness of life ; but outspoken, direct,
unimpeachable love of riglit. And then there will be also love of
worship. Life itself will be a continuous liturgy. All our life will be
holiness unto the Lord. Worship will not be with us a strange exercise :
it shall be to our mouth as sweetness, to our heart as love, to the hunger
of our being and its thirst as bi-ead and water. We shall not have to
come to worship as if we we were going to something that is remote ;
we shall always be worshipping. Our whole body, soul, and spirit will
be an offering of praise, and an expression of trust towards God.

Is it so with us as we come to God's house, if there were nothing
there but prayer and psalmody — worship in that particular form ; or is
there not too mu.ch amongst us of the spirit which says, " We shall be in
time enough for the sermon, and we do not care about the preliminaries'?"
The preliminaries ! Let the King be dismissed, and let the servant
come forth ! Let heaven be shut up, and earth open its unclean lips !
Let the great Light be quenched, and some artificial jets be substituted !
Is it so ] When we have received the Holy Ghost we shall tarry long
in prayer, and think the time was nothing ; we shall utter much song,
and be ashamed and distressed when the music has ceased. Have you
received the Holy Ghost ] And can you testify to its receji^on by the
answer of a holy life— a spirit of holiness unto the Lord 1 Brethren, I

ON RECEIVING THE HOLY GHOST. 427

feel in putting this question I ara putting a sword through my own
heart, and cleaving and piercing to the dividing asunder of the joints
and the marrow of my own nature, as well as yours. I tremble lest any
man should run away with the impression that in putting these inquiries
I myself am able to answer them satisfactorily. It is not so : and if
there has been aught rough and urgent and apparently too dogmatic in
my tone, it is not that I have attained and speak from certain success and
eminence ; it is that I feel the necessity of getting on, and of being more
deeply and livingly identified with God the Holy Ghost. You see that
ship there, with the sails clinging as it were to the timbers, just
drooping, without any flutter in them at all, and the vessel is not
stirring, is not making progress. Wait. The wind is rising, the breeze
is coming, the sails are flapped out and filled, and away goes the vessel.
She hath received the breath of heaven. Come, O Breath of the four
winds, and breathe upon us, that we may be getting on over the troubled
waters, and hastening to our desired haven ! You see these poor
drooping flowers, folded up as if hiding themselves from some enemy.
Poor chilled little things ! They are beautiful, but they dare not show
themselves. Wait a moment. There is an arrow of light breaking
through the gloom ; the sun is coming with his benediction, coming with
his invitation, coming with his life, and these little chilled things begin
to unfold themselves, and to say to the sun, " Here we are ! Thou hast
made us thus beautiful !" O Spirit of the living God, baptize us with
fire, give us the warmth without which there is no life ! See the
thirsty fields ; to-day cracked, crnmbling into sand, cattle complaii^ing,
sheep bleating for water and for nourishment. There are great gaps in
the earth. The sun has been too fierce upon this little handful of dust
we call our land. Wait. There is a cloud about the size of a man's
hand to be seen in the distant sky : it increases, spreads, darkens,
deepens, breaks — and rich, rains fall down, and the thirsty place is satis-
fied, and hastens to express its thanks in bringing forth abundantly,
that there may be food for man and beast. O Thou who art compared
unto water, pour out thyself upon us, lest thine inheritance be scoi-ched
and burnt up, and there be no content, nor plenty, nor prosperity in our
Churches ! Have we received the Holy Ghost ] If not, ouzs is but an
empty profession, and our loudest declarations ai'e echoes, not voices,
and they will come back upon us without bringing any blessing. May
I ask that each of you will join me in special importunity of prayer that
we may receive the Holy Ghost !

428 THE CITY TEMPLE.

THE PRAYEE.

ALMiGHxr God, Thou givest the Holy Spirit unto them that ask Thee :
we ask Thee now for that most blecssed gift. Blessed Spirit, dwell with
us, and our heart shall be full of joy. Gracious Teacher, abide with us,
and we shall be led into all truth ; we shall enter upon the inheritance
of the saints in light. Gracious Comforter, make thine abode in our
hearts ; interpret our sorrow ; show us all the meaning of our tears, lest
our grief be too much for us and we be swallowed up, and there be no
recovery to our souls. O Thou who lovest us as we have never loved
ourselves, we pray Thee to show unto us the riches of Thy grace, as
shown in the person and work of our only, our ever-blessed, and infi-
nitely-sufficient Saviour. Wash us in His precious blood, and there
shall be no stain upon us. Fill us with His spirit, and we shall be
perfect as Thou art perfect. Pour a double portion of Thy Holy Spirit
upon Thy ministering servant. Enable us all to see into the meaning of
Thy truth, and to feel profoundly all the mysteries of Thy mercy. Give
us the tongue as "the pen of a ready writer." Who hath made man's
mouth 1 Hast not Thou the Lord made it 1 Do Thou touch our lips
as with a live coal from off the altar. Inflame our hearts with un-
quenchable zeal. Illuminate us with the blessed light that can never
fade away. May our testimony be simple, true, emphatic, unchanging,
and through us may the world believe on Him whom Thou hast sent.
Draw all churches to Thyself, redeemed with blood named in the
covenant which Thou hast made with Messiah. Let grace, mercy, and
peace abide, and may the Chui'ch be mighty for good — an all-penetrating
and all-pervasive light, that the world may know that Thou hast saved
us by the Cross of Christ. Sanctify us in all the relations of life.
Preserve our life so long as may be expedient for Thy purpose in the
world. May each of us labour according to his own gifts, and serve
diligently in the sphere whereunto Thou hast called him ; and at last
may we meet as an assembly of souls, active in Thy service, yet never
weary of the work, renewed by Thy life, animated by Thy grace, and
rendered hopeful by Thy redeeming Spirit ! If the King hear us when
we cry, then sihall our prayer prevail through Him whom Thou hearest
alway. Amen.

A DISCOURSE

DELIVEBED BY

JOSEPH PARKER,

In the Poultry Chapel, on Thursday Morning, July 7th, 1870.

ON LYING UNTO THE HOLY GHOST.
" Why hath Satan filled thine heart to lie unto the Holy Ghost?" — Acts v. 3.

Last Thursday our subject was " Receiving the Holy Ghost." To-day
we pi'osecute the same subject, and call attention to the. possibility and
the awful consequences of lying to the Holy Ghost. The words which.
I have just quoted were uttered by the Apostle Peter when Ananias
came to him, laid down a certain sum at his feet, and professed that the
amount which he thus brought was the entire result of the sale of the
property which he had intended to give to the common fund of the
Church. Ananias laid down the part, and said it was the whole.
Peter thereupon inquired, " Why hath Satan filled thy heart to lie unto
the Holy Ghost 1" And afterward he said, " Thou hast not lied unto
men, but unto God." So that if we put these two passages together,
there can be no doubt or difficulty as to Peter's doctrine respecting the
personality and Godhead of the Holy Ghost. I do not see why we need
go one step from the incident itself in order to find the very first illus-
tration and the first lesson afforded by this most solemn and pathetic
subject. Here is a man who px-ofesees to make a donation to the
Church. He says, " This is all ;" and while he said it was the whole
proceeds, he knew in his heart it was only a pai't of the price. That is
not a merely historic incident; that is not merely something that occurred
hundreds of years ago, and rests upon the page of history without
modern example, or illustration, or similitude : there are amongst us
to-day men who have brought the part and said it was the whole, and
before the very altar of the sanctuary they have perjured their own
liearta. Do not let us imagine that the peculiarity of the details affects
in any degree- the essential value of the principle which underlies them.
We have no community of goods ; we are not altogether as were the
early Christian disciples; and it is possible, by the cunning of our hearts,

43

430 THE CITY TEMPLE.

that we may seek to escape from tlie lessons of tlie text by some of these
considerations. Do not let us trifle with ourselves in that way. Here
is a principle — the ])i'inci[)le of the possibility of lying to the Holy Ghost
■ — and we are bound to face that principle, aud to try ourselves by it
as by the flame of the Lord's own fire. How is it with you 1 You said,
when you came to London, a poor young man, that if the Lord would
open your way in life — that if you could get a situation, if it was only
at the rate of a potmd a week to begin with, you would be thankful to
God, and you would remember His service all the days of your life.
And you had the situation, and you had your pound a week to begin
with, and it increased from one pound to two, and from two j)ounds to
ten, and from ten to some higher figure. Did you carry out your vow 1
You said you would give at least one-tenth to the Lord's service. Have
you given a tithe of your income to the service of the Christian king-
dom ? Did you not say, when you got your very first sovereign, that
two shillings out of a pound was a good deal to give, and that perhaps,
considering your poverty, one might be enough 1 Thou didst not lie
unto men, but unto the Holy Ghost ! You made a vow — you made it in
the name of God. In that vow you covenanted concerning your sei'vice
in relation to the Christian kingdom, and you began to nibble at the vow,
to mitigate the bond, to take out of the covenant certain of its essential
elements, and to-day you are accused on the very floor of the temple
of God with having lied unto the Holy Ghost. I say, that is a possible
case. I am not urging an indictment against any individual man in
particular, but I am giving personality to a principle, and showing a
grand, solemn, heartrending truth, that some of us may, even in this
way, as did Ananias and Sapphira, lie unto the Holy One,

Nor is it any different in principle with you, who, when a young man and
just introduced into the Church, held very lofty and pure language con-
cerning Chi'istian consecration and service. You said that you w^ould
never (health permitting) be absent from the sanctuary, you would never
be niggardly and grudging in your attention to claims that were urged
upon you ; you would be noble in spirit, serene in temper, magnanimous
in disposition ; you would be as a flame of fire in the Church, you would
know nothing of censoriousness and bigotry and littleness ; you would
grow in holiness and in the fear of God, and all men should know of a
surety, through you, tliat Christ in j'ou was the hope of man's glory.
And you did rejoice us when you said so. We took heai't again when
we heard a young man's voice utter such music as that. We said, "Yes,
the Gospel is still the power of God unto salvation, and our hope is in
the young ;" and we referred to your vow of consecration, and were made
glad and strong in it many a time, when our heart would have fainted and
our hands hung down. How is it with you to-day 1 Have you kept the
vow 1 Have you been as prayerful, as truthful, as devout, as honourable,
as strong, as pure, as we had some reason to expect from the compre-
hensiveness and intensity of your vow 1 You made avow in secret. If
I have given language to your vow now, it is only language of suggestion
and not a quotation, because you made the vow in secret. You went
into your room, you shut the door, you prayed to your Father in secret,
and when you were startled in the exercise, you rose and aj)peared as a
man who had not been praying. You fasted, and yet you anointed your

ON LYING UNTO THE HOLY GHOST. 431

Lead, and washed your face, so that no man knew of your hunger. How
is it with you to-day 1 Have you gi-owu accordingly, or did the first
chill of worldly association Jiuinb you 1 Did you fall before the very first
assault of the enemy 1 How is it with you to-day 1 A man cannot be
carrying in his heart a thousand broken vows without feeling himself
bowed down in tlie substance and quality of his manhood — an enfeebled,
emasculated, and useless creature. " Thou didst not lie unto men, but
unto God."

And the same holds good with regard to the whole sphere of worship.
The possiI)ility of a man telUng a lie in prayer ought often to strike us
dumb in the midst of our most elaborate devotions. A man may be
telling lies unto the Holy Ghost in singing his hymn, his morning pstilm.
A man may never speak, and yet be telling lies unto God, bowing down
before him in the posture of reverence, when the heart is far away from
him, looking good and being bad in the house of God, and yet the heart
and the thoughts wandering away to the ends of the earth. "Thou
hast not lied unto men, but unto God." The minister might feel some-
what of a coldness coming from thine indifference, or restlessness, or mis-
behaviour, but the insult did not rest with him ; thou didst not insult
man, thou didst insult the Holy Ghost.

And what is true in worship is true in all the services of the Chui'ch.
When a man does something under a great profession of godliness, and
yet all the while is making standing-room for himself, then is he lying
unto God. When a man gives a little as though he were giving much,
he lies not iinto men, but unto the Holy Ghost. When a man, who
ought to lead in the church, in its devotion and in its liberality, lags
behind and deprives the church of the influence of his example and
stimulus, he is not inflicting some little human injury, he is not thrusting
a weapon into the skin of a mortal foe. He seeks, covertly indeed, and
with abundance of protestation to the contrary, to plunge the steel into
the very heart of God. We shall err in our whole worship and service
if we imagine that our whole service in the Church terminates upon
human elements and human considerations. When Ananias spoke to
Peter, Peter said to him in effect, " I am not thine interlocutor ; I do
but stand before tliee visibly. The Interlocutor is in heaven, and that
lie which thou hast told does not rest in my heart. It goes forward and
grieves the Holy Ghost."

And is it not also the same with us who are ministers of the Gospel 1
Do we not feel this more keenly, if possible, than any other Cliristian
professors, because we recall tl)e time of our first consecration, and the
memory of that hallowed time smites us as with a rod, brings us to
tears, and to the most poignant sorrow and anguisli. When we were
brought to Christ we gave ourselves no rest till we sought an opportunity
of becoming Christian teachers. We said in our secrecy, " If ever we
are allowed to ascend a Christian pulpit our theme shall be the Cross,
our watchword shall be, ' God forbid that we should glory save in the
cross of oiir Lord Jesus Christ.'" We said we would labour for the
conversion of men, we would call men to the Saviour with no in-
distinctness of sound ; there shall be in our ministry simplicity,
emphasis, unction, we shall be in the church as Christ himself — his
ambassadors and representatives. It was a holy vow, a noble I'esolution,

43^ THE CITY TEMPLK.

and in the strength of it we went many days. How is it with us now,
after having been ten years in the ministry, or twenty, or thirty ] How
oftentimes have we turned a sentence vipon our manuscript and said,
" Tiiat is very beautiful." How many times have we written for our
own artistic taste ! How often have we examined our productions only
in tlie lower light, the wretched and deceptive twilight of merely human
criticism ! How many grand efforts we have put forth for the elevation
of our own name ! And we have forgotten the Saviour, and we have
made many an endeavour to say something that was not in the New
Testament, and to preach anything but the Gospel, and we have said to
ourselves, " "We must be abreast of the time ; we must preach up to the
age," as if the old Cross had lallen back, and was no longer in sympathy
witli the progress and the necessity of manhood. God forbid that I
should say this about any brother, that I should make any charge about
any man. I feel this in my own ministry, and may therefore claim to
say it — a temptation to get away from the great central, vital, all-
dominating themes, and to dwell on some wretched trivialities which do
not matter in the slightest degree whether they are true or false. There
is a tendency to go into artificialism, and to leave nature, and to give
people husks when they perish for bread. I want therefore to say this
much, earnestly, and with heart-tears, in order that some of us may have
an opportunity of examining ourselves whether we have been lying unto
the Holy Ghost. This I know of a truth, and can say without quotation,
with the confirmation of my own experience, that I never do come back
to the great central line, and stand under the great transcendent fact of
all history — the gift of the Son of God — without those who hear me being
touched and quickened and blest, and helped in some way or other,
not, it may be, through the fancy, or the imagination, or the intellect,
but through the heart, through the emotions, through some line of practical
life, God sealing the testimony and approving still the proclamation of
the vital and unchanging ti'uth of tlie Gospel. Sad and terrible will be the
end, if we find Ivhen we go forward towards the place of judgment that
all our lifetime we have been h'ing unto the Holy Ghost, saying things
we did not believe, filling iip the time that we might be decent, and
professing earnestness vhere the heart felt no pain, no love, no urgent
and tormenting solicitude.

Man lies unto the Holy Ghost, when he represses the deepest con-
' victions of his nature. If any man have a conviction of a right course,
and hesitate to pursue that course because of possible evil consequences,
he lies unto the Holy Ghost. The Holy Ghost is in every man, more or
less ; He bears witness in every heart, and if a man .shall quench his
convictions of right, be they political, or social, or educational, or reli-
gious, he lies unto the Holy Ghost that is within him ; he dishonours
the Spirit of truth. A man lies unto the Holy Ghost when he proceeds
upon the policy that the end will justify the means — when he says,
" This is not a jirofession I should have chosen upon moral grounds ; I
do not like my trade ; I do not like my way of getting money ; at the
same time, a man must live, and when I do realize results I shall
appropriate those results in a good direction." When a mail allows
himself to talk so, he is a liar before God. He proceeds upon the fallacy
that " a man must live." Now, there is no greater error in practical

ON LYING UNTO THE HOLY GHOST. 433

reasoning than that. It is not at all necessary that a man must live.
" Man shall not live by bread alone." There is a higher life than the
life of your flesh. It ought to be necessary for a man to speak the
truth, but not to be necessary for him to live. Here tlien is a danger
■which I wish to point out to myself and to others whom it may concern.
We say, "The end will sanctify the means." We say, "We anticipate
results, and all will depend upon our appropriation of those results."
You are wrong in your reasoning, and you are criminal in your morality.
Let a man get what he does get honestly. Let him be able to hold it
up, and let the sun stream through it, and let him be able to see that
there be no crack or flaw or blemish in it. Let him walk before God
and man with sincerity, and honesty, and self-reliance, and yet mistrust ;
and whatsoever be the consequences, he will in his heart be rich, and
great, and prosperous, and happy.

Why do I insist on this view of the case 1 For this reason. It is
possible for some who hear me to say, " Well, if this be the case, we '
shall abandon the sanctuary, we shall get away from the Christian
standard, and have nothing to do witli the profession of Christianity,
and then we shall escaj^e the charge of lying to the Holy Ghost. You
ai'e wrong ; the Holy Ghost is not shut up in the sanctuary ; the Holy
Gho.st is as much in architecture as He is in religious thinking ; the
Holy Ghost presides as truly over your agriculture as He does over your
prayer-meetings. You cannot get away from the Holy Ghost by bang-
ing the chapel door, and running away into the streets, and hiding your-
selves in the warehouse. There is no truth that is peculiarly religious
as truth ; there is no justice that is distinctively Divine as justice.
Truth is truth in the market place ; and in the Church justice is justice,
whether it be })residing over the Cross, or whether it be regulating our
instincts and our daily lives. If we make these wretched, fallacious, and
misleading divisions, then our life will be a failure, without colierence,
without dignity, without a divine centre and a divine destiny. You lie
to the Holy Ghost when you tell a man behind your counter, " This is
ten yards long," when it is only nine and a half. You lie not unto men,
but unto the Holy Ghost ; and when you tell some unsophisticated cus-
tomer from the countiy, "This is a new fashion," when you know it is
an old one, do not go into your back parlour, and eat up the dinner
that will make you more hungiy than ever, and chuckle over the fact
that you, an old shopkeeper, have told the party in question that it was
quite new. It may be a clever trick in trade ; it may have added a few
coppers to your rotten till, but thou hast not lied unto men, but unto God.
Many men imagine that it is only on theological subjects that they can lie
unto the Holy Ghost, but they offend Him with their lives. The Holy
Ghost pervades human life, pervades human society, penetrates all the
reticulations and network of human life and human intercourse; and
even in our so-called secular work we may be as truly lying against the
Holy Ghost as when we tell falsehoods in our solemn devotions.

This makes life a very serious business. If the Holy Ghost occupied
any special department of life, then we might flee away from Him ; but
still the question torments evil consciences, and wrings the hearts of men
who wish to escape into godless solitude, " Whither shall I flee from Thy
presence 1 The wings of the morning cannot bear me away from Thy

434 THE CITY TEMPLE,

sight ; those dread, hurning eyes look upon me wherever I am.
There is no depth in the sea, there is no bed in hell, there is no eminence
beyond the stai-s, where Thy presence is not a torment and a judgment,
a criticism and a terrible jjlague."

I hold, then, that a true exposition of these words of the text forces
upon us two solemn facts. One is that we have two lives ; we have an
outward life and an inward life ; a life of speech made for the public ear,
and a life of thinking, of which we ourselves are alone the auditors.
Terrible is that power of concealment — to be able to stand before a man,
and to smile at him when you in your heart are seeking out a place in
which you may smite him ! A dread power to be bowing the head as if
in worship, and yet for the heart to be entertaining with lavish hospitality
the worst devils that can fill the human soul ! The two lives will not
show ourselves to one another as we are ; and more than this, and worse
than this, we dare not show ourselves to ourselves. There ai-e times
■when we would run away from some aspect of ourselves, that we catch,
as it were, suddenly and unexpectedly. We say, " Ko, that cannot be
nie, that cannot be my life ! That cannot be my heart. I want to
rim away from that !" And sometimes we talk in order to keep down
the inward voice ; sometimes we make our outward speech loud, re-
sonant, and emphatic, that we may still the pleader that jiuts in a word
for God.

And the next fact is, that there is a time of revelation coming upon
all human life. We have had hints of this revelation all through the
Divine testimony written in the Scriptures. You remember when
Gehazi followed Naaman, regretting that his master had spared him.
When the well-controlled man came back, and entered into his master's
presence, and looked as if he had not been doing anything particular, his
master said to him, " Whence comest thou, Gehazi 1" and Gehazi said,
"Thy servant went no whither" — said it without a tremor in his voice,
without a blush on his cheek ; said it with childlike innocence. What
was the answer 1 " Went not mine heart after thee?" When Ananias
said unto Peter, This is the whole proceeds — the whole result of the sale
of my property, Peter said unto him, " Thou hast not lied unto men, but
unto the Holy Ghost." ''That which is spoken in secret shall be heard
on the housetops;" that which we do in darkness shall be done over
again, as it were, in the light ; that which we have spoken in a whisper
shall be taken up in thunder, and sent throughout the universe with
ever-multipying reduplication, until not a devil in hell or an angel in
heaven shall be ignorant of our whole spiritual history. A man ought
every now and then to face that fact. If he cannot be governed by
higher considerations, he ought to allow himself to be lashed as far
towards virtue as he can with the scorpion thong of fear ; he ought to
say to himself, " This will^be known one day; all this will be published
that I am doing now so cleverly and covertly ; it will all be known."
Mayhap a reflection of that kind — which is nut the highest reflection —
which does not partake of the very highest quality of instruction, or
doctrine, or impulse, may bring him to other reflections that wiU
terminate in higher thinking and in diviner results. Only the true man
will stand. When Ananias heard that, what was the consequence ?
" He gave up the ghost." That is a history in a sentence, a revelation

ON LYING UNTO THE HOLY GHOST. 4i35

in a breatli. \Yhen Ananias heard tliat, he Mas not sLiin with steel, he
■was not executed on some ecclesiastical gallows, he was not dragged
to prison and allowed to ])ine out a wretched existence, but instantly it
was made known to him that the S|>irit of truth had been insulted, and
that he had lied unto the Holy Spirit of God, he fell down and was no
more a man. There is a destiny for the liar ! That is the end of your
clever courses, your splendid strokes in dishonourable business. A man
may keep back part of the price, and that which he has kept back of his
own little private property will be the condemnation and the ruin of his
life. What we want then is truth in the inward parts. Let a man
openly stand forward and say, " I could give you all this, but I shall
only give you a little part of it." He is an honest man. When a man
comes and says, "Take this gift : it is all I have," and yet behind it
there lies somewhat which he has kept in reserve, then he is prepared
for the terrible destiny of Ananias and Sapphira.

Only truth can stand; there will be a time in the universe when all
liars shall be cast into a lake of fire. They shall be burnt up, and
nothing shall be found but the truth of C-od. How can a man be true 1
Only by Christ, only by being crucified with Christ, only by knowing in
his heart what Jesus meant when he said, " I am the truth." A man
cannot do this of his own strength, cannot call himself right up to the
high level of Divine veracity and integrity and purity. God knowing this,
has set forth Christ to be a propitiation for our sins, and not for ours
only, but for the sins of the whole world. God knowing this, has sent
forth into the world tliis Gospel ; through Jesus Christ is the forgiveness
of sins published to every ci'eature. So it is no use our going back and
trying to do what we have left undone. No man can get into his yester-
days. When the day goes it sets up a barrier, and you cannot get back
to it. If God had not any power of going back, then must our life
remain in its lottenness and evil and pei'versity, and all its abomination
and untruthfulness. But God has this power of going back upon a man's
life — beginning with him, as it were, upon his very first breath, and pur-
suing him with his love, and offering him through all the difficulties and
sorrows of his being the one sufficient answer, the answer of Chi'ist's
work and Christ's love. What manner of persons ought we to be ! — the
Holy Ghost listening to us — God watching us. " Though hand join in
hand, the wicked shall not go unpunished." "Be sure your sins will find
you out." God setteth our secret sins in the light of His countenance,
and forgets nothing. He brings iij) the whole history of our life, and
lets fall upon it the revealing glory of his own righteousness. Sui-ely
we ought, if there be truth in these reflections, to hasten to God's feet
and to abide there till we have implored, and implored successfully, the
forgiveness of our sins through Jesus Christ our blessed Saviour.

436 THE CITY TEMPLE.

O Thou that searchest the heart and triest the reins of the children of
]nen, search us and try us, and see if there be any wicked way in ns,
and lead us in the way everlasting. The Lord seeth not as man seeth ;
for man looketh on the outward appeai-ance, but the Lord looketh on the
heart. Who can hide himself from God 1 Though the rocks fall upon
us, and the mountains cover us, and the darkness doth enclose us in its
most secret places, yet dost thou search and try us as a flame of fire. All
things are naked and open unto the eyes of Him with whom we have to
do. Thou art a Spirit, and thou searchest the spirits of men. Who
then can stand before God, and who dare say, "Let the Most High look
upon me 1 '' In Thy holiness we see our own guilt ; in the light of Thy
countenance we realize the darkness of our own way. Thou didst set
our secret sins in the light of Thy countenance, and Thine heart doth,
go after its when we pui-sue that which is evil. If we say we have no
sin, we deceive ourselves ; we have come to say, " God be merciful to us
sinners through Jesus Christ our infinitely sufiicient Saviour, whose
blood cleanseth from all sin." Thou wilb hear this prayer; Thou wilt
allow it to prevail mightily with Thee, for Thou canst not turn away from
Thy dear Son and the presence of His cross. We humbly beseech thee
to search us as with the candle of the Lord. Reveal us vmto ourselves,
that we may know ourselves as we really are. When Thou hast afflicted
us and humbled us, and expelled from our heart every vain hope of self-
emancipation, do Thou bring lis with the infinite graciousness of Thy love
to know the mystery of the liberty of the sons of God. Amen.

A DISCOURSE

DELIVEEED BY

JOSEPH PAEKEE,

In the Poultry Chapel, oy! Thursday Morning, July Hth, 1870.

ON GRIEVING AND QUENCHING THE HOLY GHOST.

"Grieve not the holy Spirit of God."— Eph. iv. 30.
" Qaench rot the Spirit." — 1 Thess. v. 19.

If language has any meaning, it must be clear from these words that
the Apostle had no doubt whatever of the personality of tlie Holy Ghost.
You cannot grieve an impersonal substance, nor can yon grieve a merely
spiritual influence. Where grief is possible there must be intellio'ent
agency, and intelligent agency is perhaps the simplest and the best defini-
tion of personality. Not only, however, must there be intelligent
agency, there must be something more and something deejjer. You
can hardly say with pro])riety that you have grieved a man's intellect : you
may dishonour his intellect ; you may insult his mind ; you may stultify
his mental conceptions and propositions ; but you can hardly be said to
grieve a man's intelligence. There miist, therefore, be heart. You
grieve the heart ; you alienate the affections ; you wound the sensi-
bilities. So that we find in the Holy Ghost not only the highest
intelligence, but the highest sensibility ; not only a mind of life, but a
heart of love ; not only Divine j)owers of conception and origination of
thought, but a more than mothei-ly heart, a more than womanly love.
Now, the fact that the Holy Spirit is capable of being grieved shows
hovv intimately He has identilied Himself with our best life. That He
should permit Himself to be grieved by anything that we, the creatures
of a day, can do, is in itself most wonderful and most pathetic. That
He should condescend to take so much interest in our poor human life,
the little flying day which we call our lifetime, is itself suggestive of
much that is deeply tender and pathetic in the intercourse which is
maintained between the divine and the luiman. What do we care about
those that are afar off, whether their actions be pleasant or unjjleasant
— whether they be moral or vicious. But when you are told that a
certain child has done wrong, you instantly feel, if you know the parent,
of the child, that the wound inflicted on the parental heart must be very.

44

438 THE CITY TEMPLE.

acute and deep. You express pity for tlie parent, because of the close-
ness of the relation subsisting between the person who has done wrong
and the person who will sniFer most deeply from that wrong. The
parent mourns over his wandering, prodigal child. The mother spends
her days in thought and her nights in prayer, when she thinks of her boy
that is far away from that which is right and pure and true and good.
Her heart is grieved. She could not grieve so much over anybody else's
boy : it is over her ow^n child that she melts in tenderness, and that she
trembles almost with hopelessness. And if there be any truth at all in
this human analogy, it does give us views of the tenderness, the sensi-
bility, the love of the divine, which we could not otherwise obtain.
That the Holy Ghost is grieved with us at all, is, I repeat, a suggestion
of the depth of tenderness that is in God, which is unfathomable and
inexpressible. Why does He not put his foot upon us and crush us out
of existence 1 Why does He allow one pang to afflict His heart, when
* by the doubling up of His fist He might crush the universe into death 1
And yet it doth please Him to gather us as a hen doth gather her brood
under her wings ; it doth please Him to say, that when women have
forgotten their sucking children, even then He will not forget us.

I find in these reflections, if I may so expi'ess myself, higher and more
conclusive proofs of the divinity of the Holy Ghost, than in any merely
intellectual or philosophical argument. It is when I get near the heart
of God that I feel the greatness of His nature, and the sacredness of the
life which He has given.

And t])en, by iTason of the very nature of the Holy Spirit, it must
be by s])iritual oflfences that He is grieved, or by offences that are
spiritual, rather than by outward, visible, and actual, as between man
and man, or as judged by social standards. He is a spirit, and therefore
He deals with our spirit. He does not wait until the thought becomes
an act, until He is grieved. His sorrow does not take place merely
when the overt act is committed in the face of society. He knoweth
our thought afar off, ere we fully comprehend it oiirselves — in its
remotest, earliest inceptivity, when we could not define it to our own
consciousness — when it is not ripe for speech — even in its rudest form.
He knows it then, sees the beginning of it, sees all the operations in the
mind — how it comes to asseit the mastery over us— until it comes to
be the supreme desire of our nature, and then it leaps out into some
vicious and terrible act. But He was grieved with it long before it
reached its climactei'ic point. He saw it afar off : its inception gave
Him sorrow ; its progress deepened His anguish. It is important,
therefore, for us to remember that judgment does not begin with our
handy-work. The highest and most terrible judgment is the judgment

ON GRIEVIXG AND QUEXCHIXG THE HOLY GHOST. ISQ

that is occasioned by our innermost life. It is what we are in motive —
wliat we are in the deepest secrets of our experience — that touches the
Holy Ghost, that moves the Divine life and thought and affection. It
is impurity of motive which afflicts the Holy Ghost. The action itself
may be good, and yet He may be grieved with it, by reason of its
animating motive. We may do a right deed in the face of society, and
that right deed may be set down against us in God's register as a crime.
Actions may be relatively good, and yet essentially bad There may be
an act of charity done with an uncharitable motive ; and if the light that
is in a man be darkness, how terrible is that darkness ! Let a man
falter in the constancy of his affection towards great principles, divine
truths, righteous policies, and though he may never breathe a \vord of
his heart-staggering, yet the Holy Ghost is grieved by the infidelity of
his love. The outward conduct may be as it ever was. Attendance
upon means of grace may be as regular as before. On the outward man
there may be no scar, no blemish, nor flaw, nor wrinkle, nor any such
thing, yet he may have gone down in his soul ; his spiritual sensibilities
may have become blunted ; his highest instincts may have been dulled,
dishonoured, and all but killed ; and it is there in that inner life that
never can be puLlished, that intense spiritual life without which man-
hood is impossible, that the Holy Ghost is grieved, sorrow-stricken,
filled with such anguish as only divinity can feel or understand.

So then this forces us into very close quarters with ourselves. It puts
an end to all self-trifling ; it drives us away as with indignation from a
judgment of that which is merely external and social. It asks us, What
is our innermost life 1 - what is thei-e in our heart of hearts 1 — not what
is there painted on the wall, but what is there nestling and brooding in
the soul ? The Word of God is " quick and powerful, sharper than any
two-edged sword, piercing to the dividing asunder of the joints and
marrow." When God searches a man with the flame of His own
I'ighteousness, it is not a question of what we have done only, but of
what we are, and what we would have done had circumstances been
more favourable. Poor are the biographies which the best friend can
write of his departed companion. He can but tell his deeds. Poor are
the diaries which men write about themselves. After they have written
their journals they are moi'e remarkable for the absence of the deepest
spix-itual lite than for its presence. Only the Holy Ghost can judge a
man's interior life thoroughly, profoundly, justly. What some of us
would have been if we could have had our own way in the world ! If
we could have been sure of perfect secrecy, how many evil things we
would have done ! If we could be covenanted with the darkness that
not a single ray of light should ever come through it, what would our

440 THE CITY TEMPLE.

life have been then ! If we could' have smitten men dumb, and sealed
their lips for ever in silence regarding our conduct, how would we have
acted then ! If nobody would ever have known about it, how much
deeper should we have thrust these covetous hands into the property of
other people ! If there had been no fear of social judgment before our
eyes, how much moi"e would we have grudged the hireling his hire, and
oppressed the weak man in his weakness ! It is there, then, at the
back of all our social life, before ever we begin to shape our thoughts into
actions, that the Holy Ghost takes notice of us, and is either grieved
with us or rejoices over us with Divine gladness.

The exhoi tuition is, " Grieve not the Holy Spirit of God ;" and if we
' are not to grieve a Holy Sjjirit, we ourselves must be holy. Observe, we
are called upon not to grieve a spirit that is holy — not a spirit that is
merely might}', majestic, glorious, but holy, true, pure, righteous, with-
out sin, and without possibility of sin. It is the Hohj Spirit that is not
to be grieved, and, therefore, the exhortation calls \is to the highest
moral life, the loftiest spiritual homage and consistency. "Grieve not;"
' be mindful of Him ; consider Him in the whole of your life. Ask, How
"will this bear upon Him ? Let your thought and your desire be one
continuous consultation of His holiness. This\is the vocation wherewith
we are called.

Brethren, if this be so at all, it makes life a very solemn and tormenting
experience. Considtring that the whole stress of our nature is set in
another direction — considering that innumerable temjrtations are con-
stantly importuning us — not enticing ns now and again, but bearing
down upon us with determination, watching ns in our weakest moments,
and pausing until we are off our guard for a single instant, and then
rushing upon ns with determined malignity — considering these things, I
say, our life becomes to us^ if we live in the highest mood, oftentimes not
only a joy, but a torment and an awful distress. Yes, you will find this,
my young Ghristian friends, as 3011 get on in life, that the more life you
have, the moi'e caiiability of jJain you have ; the nearer you. get to God,
the more terrible will be some of the hours in your Christian experience ;
the more you grow in holiness, the more will you be troubled by the
things which are around about you, but which now hardly give yoii any
uneasiness at all. Growth in divine life is not only growth in divine
joys, it is gi'owth in pain ; it is growth in torment, because growth in
sensibility and growth in the highest capacity. But, blessed be God,
there is a torment that is joy, there is an agony which is rapture; and
as we increase in our capability of feeling pain from spiritual causes, we
increase also in ca])acity for I'eceiving God into our hearts, guesting and
tabernacling the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. So I would not

ON GRILVING AND QUENCUING Tllli HOLY GHOST. 441

give up one element of life. I know that the more life, the more pain ;
I know the ne;irer an animal, the le.ss pain; the more of the bestial that
is in us, the less capacity there is of suffering the highest torments ; but
we are taught, having been slain with Christ and having been raised
with Him in the power of His resurrection, that it is better to suffer such
•anguish as redeemed spiritual life can suffer, than to content ourselves
with the empty, treacherous, mocking joys which the devil provides for
those who are swiftly withering into his own image.

And then we are exhorted, not only not to grieve the Holy Spirit of
God, we are also exhorted not to " quench" the Spirit. We are called
from one side of spiritual watchfulness to another, or to a higher view of
the same side.

I want to inquire, in one or two brief sentences, what is meant by
quenching the Holy Ghost. It would api)ear i'rom these words that it
is possible for us to stamp out the very last flickering spark of divinity
that is within us — that one little glint of lire that saves us from being
devils. It would appear from these words that it is possible to erase
the very last line of the Divine image that was impressed upon our nature
by God himself, and for a man to be just the devil's tenant-at-will — to
be the devil's slave — to be at the devil's call. What ! can a man be
that — a man who can think, plan, scheme, reason, calculate, pioject,
execute great things— a man who is capable of love, of the highest,
noblest passion and enthusiasm after virtue and goodness 1 Is it ])os6ible
for a man to get down to that point that you really can hardly tell i
whether he is a man at all 1 Have you not known cases in which even
a mother has turned aside, ^\ itli such a shudder and horror as only
mothers can know, from the child to whom she herself gave birth — no
longer a child — a monster, a wretch, a demon, wanting but a touch, and
he is gone 1 Have you not had occasion to give up some of the dearest
companionships of your life "? You have clung to the very last. You
have said, " There is something good in him yet. I shall not break the
bruised reed ; I shall not quench the smoking flax ; I shall yet recover
him, and shall have joy in his restoration." And then the hour — the
heart-breaking hour — came, when even from your reluctant lips there was
forced the decision, "Let him alone; the case is hopeless." We have
had such experience in general life ; and such experience is but a dim
hint of what can be meant by Almighty God, who made man, redeemed
man, and who loves man, turning away from him, and saying, "As a son.
of perdition he must be lost."

Let me guard those who may require to be so guarded from a doc-
trine that is altogether fallacious and misleading with regard to this
matter of quenching the Holy Spirit of God. Some may imagine that

442 THE CITY TEMPLE.

it is a filial act, that it is an act complete in itself, that it is done all at
once, and done for ever. I do not believe that that is a true repre-
sentation of the case. I -would rather say, on the contrary, that grieving
the Holy Ghost is in reality quenching Him, and that the quenching of
the Holy Spirit is not one independent act complete in itself, but is an
jvct that expi'esses, embodies, and terminates a whole series of acts.
Here is a man who is animated by a generous impulse. He says, " I see
this as I never saw it before, and my reply to it shall be so and so —
something noble, liberal ;" and he begins by-and-by to reason with him-
self ; and reason always cools the heart I am afraid. I do not know that
logic ever made a man much of an enthusiast. I am afraid a good many
of us have reasoned ourselves down to zero. However, he comes after a
process of reflection to say, " I shall not do what I first said, I shall do
something lower — still something good." What is the man doing ] He
is quenching — quenching the Holy Spirit of generosity and nobleness —
not extinguishing it, but quenching it, by grieving it, lowering it, putting
it down to some inferior place in his nature ; taking out of it the
element which would have meant nobility and giandeur of gift and
sacrifice. Or here is a man who has made up his mind to an act of self-
denial. He says, " I shall no longer continue in this course. I like it,
it pleases me in many ways. Nothing gratifies me so much as this ; but
I shall not do it." And the time comes when he must do it, if he is
to do it at all. It is but a few minutes to the hour now, and he says,
" I shall not do it. T shall not do it ;" and the minutes go one by one,
and he says, " I do not think I shall do it ; " and the minutes tick them-
selves away, and it is, " Well, perha])s, if I go this time, and do it just
once more, it will not look so abrupt as if I were to do it all at once. I
shall do it just this once, and no more. This shall be the la.st time of my
going — I will never go any more ;" and he goes, and hell is moved at his
going ; and if there might be gladness, there is joy in the caverns of dark-
ness. What has the man done ? Quenched the Spirit, by grieving it.
He still has something of resolution in him ; there is still the wreck of
the holy vow in his heart ; but he has quenched the Holy Ghost in the
proportion that he has grieved it. And here is a case of a young
Christian, who has started in life with a determ.ination that he will speak
a word for Christ whenever opportunity occurs. When he is in secret he
quite longs for the opportunity. I know I sjjeak to many hearts when I
say so. Some of us have in private even shaped sentences that we thought
would be appropriate in such and such cases, which we .«;h6uld be likely
to meet with. We have looked over the roll of our friends, and have
adapted expressions to this case and to that case, and we have resolved
that we should say a word for Christ, not perhaps a very bold word —

ON GRIEVING AND QUENCHING THE HOLY GHOST. 443

certainly not a word that would exalt ourselves at the expense of others ;
but with a sincere and humble desire we have gone out for the pui'pose
of speaking a word on behalf of Christ and of truth. It is just like many
a boy who has gone down to the river to bathe for the first time. He
has said how he would do it ; how he would take a leap from that point,
and go right in at once, and " would not feel it like ;" and when he got
down — well, he thought he would not do so just then, but by-and-by he
would do it. So he went through the whole process of shivering, and
shuddering, and trembling, and making a fool of himself, which people do
when they ought to do boldly what they do timidly. And the young
man with a good Christian vow in his heart feels something come into his
throat just when he begins to speak, or when he is about to begin to speak
he forgets just what the first word was that he was going to say, and he
says to himself, " Now, if I make a bungle there, I know I shall make
nothing of it. I think I shall wait for a more convenient season." What
is he doing 1 I hardly like to say it, lest it should fall like a blight on
some young beautiful flower that much needs the sunshine ; yet, as a
matter of truth. I must say it, you are grieving the Spirit, and in that
proportion are quenching the Holy Ghost. Don't stifle Divine con-
victions; don't silence Divine voices that are pleading with your heart
for public utterance That is quenching the Holy Ghost. If men would
not quench the Holy Ghost or grieve Him, what a different aspect society
would speedily assume if every part of our life were dictated by the
Holy Ghost, if men took counsel of the spiritual and not of the
actual, went back to Divine considerations and not to social con-
sequences and standards, if our outward life were a literal and
faithful transcript of the work within us that is done by the Holy
Gho.st ! And yet that is what we ought to aim at. Nothing short of
that ought to satisfy us. Our life ought not to be a series of jugglings,
ought not to be a continuation of clever strokes by which we are trying
to get from day to day as quickly, and as conveniently, and as comfort-
ably as we can. Our life ought to be a protest, a witness, a judgment,
a hope, a warning in one direction, an encouragement in another — a
revelation of Divine light, an exposition of Divine truth. To this
great vocation are we called. Who is sufficient for these things 1 If
we are not to grieve the Holy Spirit of God, we must have more of that
Spirit in our heai-ts. If we are to be faithful to what little we do
know and do feel, we must pi'ay for a yet fuller baptism of the Holy
Ghost, that we may grow holy.

Merciful God, to whom our ignorance is a prayer, and to whom our
want is a piercing cry, do 1 hou come to i;s and abide with us. Not a
brief glance we want, but a constant vision — not a transient glimpse

444 THE CITY TEMPLE.

of Thy liglit, but a contiimal day. We know this, yet we do not do
this. Our very first act after this hour of worshij) will likely be a
blunder and an offence to Thee, Thou brooding Spiiit of love ; and those
lips that have been praying and uttering words of heavenly wisdom
will very likely be blanched by some noisome evil word, some censorious
speech, by a sneer at weakness, or by inconstancy in righteous testimony.
Oh, this is our life 1 We never knew what pain was till we knew
Christ ; we never knew what heart-sorrow was till we found our way
gropingly and weepingly into Gethsemane ; we never felt the un-
righteousness of sin, and the abominable nature of iniquity, until we
knew somewhat of the purity and heavenliness of Christ's life. When I
say, " May we grow in grace," your hearts, I doubt not, will answer,
" Amen and Amen."

Almighty God, Thou hast made us capable of worshipping Thee, and
we desire now to bless Thee for the joy which comes of communion
with Thyself and with .Thy Son Jesus Christ. Thou hast caused us to
know that our humblest woi-ship is our highest elevation. When our
hearts are broken with .sincere contrition for sin. Thou dost enrich us
with pledges of a glorious immortality, and out of the ])angs of penitence
dost Thou bring many proofs of an assured and blessed sonship. Whilst
we wait upon the Lord our strength is renewed. Thou givest more
grace ; Thou givest power to the faint, and. to those who have no might
Thou dost increase strength, so that when natural energy fails, and
young love perishes by reason of the difficulty of the way, those whose
souls wait upon God are renewed in power, and are stimulated by fuller
inspiration. We desire to bless Thee for the hour of i)rayer, and for the
place of quiet Christian meditation ; and we now humbly pray Thee to
pour out iqjon i;s the Holy Spiiit, that our worship may be intelligent,
profound, spiritual ; that we nuiy receive from the Lord's hand the
bles.sings which we peculiarly require. It is our joy to believe that'
Thou canst meet us all. As Thou dost pour the light of the morning
upon the hill-top and upon the lowly vale, upon the great trees of the
forest and the tiniest flowers that tremble at their roots, so Thou canst
bless every man amongst us, and every soul can have its hunger
appeased by the richness of the provisions of the Lord's house.

CIjc €iti Cnii^h.

A DISCOURSE

DELIVERED BY

JOSEPH PARKER,

Is THE Poultry Chapel, on Thursday Morning, July 21sr, 1870.

ON HAVING JOY IN THE HOLY GHOST.

"Joy ia the Holy Ghost." — Komans xiv. 17.

The drift of the remarks that it is now proposed to make we may gather
from the following passages :— " The fruit of the Spirit is joy ;" " Having
received the Word with joy of the Holy Ghost;" "The disciples were
filled with joy and with the Holy Ghost." The indwelling of the Holy
Spirit in the human heart is not an incidental, but a necessary and
unchanging, pledge of the highest joy. Christianity is more than a
discipline. The Gospel fills the heart with calmness, with joy, with
rapture. It carries human life to the highest point of ecstasy that is
attainable under present conditions, and it proves its divinity by the
diffusion and sure maintenance of the most intelligent and intense joy.
Ijong after all history, logic, philosophy, and lofty contention of one
great principle against another, or of one great principle in modification
of another, have done their work, there comes into the human heart a
holy gladness, which satisfies alike the moral instincts and the emotional
capacity of our new-born nature.

I propose to dwell upon this Christian joy awhile ; to think of it as a
doctrine, a test, and a hope, praying that the Holy Ghost may S])eak
comfortably unto us and fill us with gladness whilst we dwell upon this
phase of his wondrous and beneficent ministry.

I. In the first place, therefore, let us dwell upon Christian joy in the
Holy Ghost as a doctrine.

When it is said that true spirituality on the part of man is attested by
heartfelt joy, it must be understood that this joy is not a transient and
inexplicable feeling, a flutter without a law, a sensation that is inde-
l»endent of conscience and unrelated to reason. This Christian joy is the
last point in a series of points. It is the point immediately beyond lan-
guage, and yet strictly in the line of it. It is the rhythmic point at
"which reason becomes harmony, and speech thrills into music — that

45

446 THE CITY TEMPLE.

indescribable bnt well-known point at which we can no longer conduct
processes of logic, but we enter into a serenity, profound, imperturbable,
and infinite in duration as the peace of God. Kow this divine joy,
unlike mei'ely animal excitement, is capable of analysis. We can get at
the elements which constitute this joy. This is a joy which we can
explain, vindicate, rely upon. It is a development. It grows upon us.
We get up to it through a series of steps. It is as the colour, the bloom,
the fragrance, enclosed in the seed of divine truth educed and liberated
by divine processes. Is it a cruel thing to analyse one's joy 1 Many
joys, alas ! will not bear analysis. They are but unaccountable and
transient vibrations. They have nothing in them that touches the soul,
that betters our nature, that increases the fineness or the quality of our
manhood. We call them joys, but that is a misapplied term. It is a
kind of happiness, a kind of pleasurable accident. The joy which has in
it reason, truth, argument, consistency, music — it is not such joy as that.
I propose, therefore, that we ask what are the constituent elements of
this Christian joy 1 — how comes it to be joy 1 Explain how it is that
truth becomes tuneful, and that theology and argument and philosophy
and logic conspire in one rousing, soothing melody.

Beginning at the beginning, in our analysis of this Christian joy, we
find under all. and penetrating all, the great, blessed doctrine of pardon.
We begin with the forgiveness of sins. Until we know the mystery of
the Divine remission of human guilt, we are not in a position to under-
stand or to feel the Christian joy of which we are now speaking. Man
cannot begin his highest Christian studies until he has known somewhat
of the agony, it may be, through which a man passes before he knows the
blessedness of a forgiven state. Pardon, therefore, is the first element
in this joy ; and unless we have been pardoned we shall be talking
about a feeling into which our hearts cannot enter.

Nor shall we know the jo}^ of pardon until we have known the bitter-
' ness of sin. You see how deeply we begin. To find the cause of our
joy, and the explanation of our joy, we go down to the very bitterest
hoi;rs of our life, and we lay bare the causes, infiuences, and elements
which have made us so wretched. Have we felt the bitterness of sin as
sin 1 I do not ask whether we have smarted under any of the indi-
vidual or social consequences of sin. That is nothing. Our external
wounds and bruises are nothing in this great argument. Have we felt
the moral evil of sin, the abominableness of iniquity, as looked at in the
light of the Divine righteousness 1 Have we felt that sin is infinitely
hateful as such, even were there no coming judgment, no threatening
hell, no smiling welcoming heaven 1 We must get at the idea of sin
apart from all these things. Sin is not dreadful because somewhere
thei'e is supposed to be a hell ; heaven is not lovely because somewhere,
discovered by the poets, there is a shining place called " heaven." Sin is
infinitely hateful if we had but an hour to live, and if our next gasp
terminated our existence for ever. When a man gets a notion of sin,
and passes on from that to know what Christ has done in relation to sin,
and appropriates the great blessing of the Cross, and hears in his heart
the sweet, tender, tremulous voice, saying, " Thy sins, which are many,
are all forgiven Thee," he gets into the first element of that joy which
is ultimately to be " unspeakable and full of glory."

ON HAVING JOY IN THE HOLY GHOST.

447

Nor do we rest at this gift of forgiveness. It is not difficult to con-
ceive a man forgiven and left as it were in that state without increase of
his moral vitality, without a quickening of his higher faculties, without
any desire to know the further mysteries of God — simply forgiven and
dismissed — to have, as it were, the ham] of God put out to him formally,
in recognition of the fact that a great act of remission has transpired, and
there for the fellowship with the Divine Nature to cease. It is not so in
the Christian argument. After pardon there comes a second element,
which increases this Christian joy of which we are speaking ; and that
.second element is described in Holy Scripture as adoption into the family
of God. " As many as are led by tlie Spirit, they are the sons of God."
" For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear, bat the /
Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father." "When the fulness
of time was come God sent forth His Son, made of a woman, made
under the law, to redeem them that were under the law, that we might
rt^ceive the adoption of sons." " To as many as received Him gave He
power to become the sons of God." So we are not left incoherent
rebels, pardoned and dismissed from the Divine presence. We are
gathered into a family, constituted into a household, and we who once
knew only the name of rebel have come to know somewhat of the mystery
and somewhat of the music of sonship. A pardoned rebel is one thing ;
a member of the family and household of God is another. A pardoned
rebel might go all the days of his life hanging his head in bitter self-
scourging humiliation, never able to lift his eyes to the light, vmder the
jiressure of what he once was, even though now he carries the divinely-
signed charter of forgiveness. But when he becomes a son — when what
he lost is more than recovered — when his human natui'e, once defiled,
has become a nature penetrated by divine elements, and sanctified by
divine presences — when he knows what is meant by sonship, it is
imjiossible for that man to hold his tongue, to refrain from exclamation,
from "making a joyful noise unto the Rock of his salvation." He does
not sing as of duty ; he does not get himself up to the point of singing ;
he does not say, " Now it is incumbent \ipon me to show some signs of
jo3^" He cannot help it. The joy is natural to him now ; the music
belongs to him as part of him ; and he no more thinks of getting up an
artificial display of joy than the roses take conference together whether
they shall to-morrow morning lade the breezes with their delicious per-
fume. And the joy is coming to a still higher point. Not only is there
sonship, but there is a distinct recognition of the fact in the man's own
heart of hearts. He knows that he is a son. There may be— there are
})ersons who go all the days of their lives wondering whether after all
they are the children of God, and forbid that I should speak a chilling
or sharp word to such that might in any way discourage them. At the
same time, I am now dwelling upon great breadths of truth, and there-
fore I repeat that where there is Divine sonship there is a sure con-
sciousness and an abiding witness of that fact in the man's own nature.
" The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the sons
of God." If any man believe, he hath the witness in himself. He has
not to go to outward charters — even to cliurches, or preachers, or pastors,
or teachers to know whether he is right or not ; there is in his heart the
echo of the Divine voice, he responds to the Divine influence and he

448 THE CITY TEMPLE.

knows of a .snretv by the indwellmo; and V>y the gracious floniiuion of
the Holy Ghost over the whole outgoing of his nature that he is a child
of God. I say, tlierefore, we can analyse our Christian joy. I repeat,
it is not a vibration of our animal nature of which we can give little or
no account ; it can be specified in terms, it can be argued out in pro-
positions ; we can whip the sceptic along the whole line of the argument
until he himself is compelled to be dmnb ; until he can no longer sneer nor
blaspheme. The man that is pardoned — the rebel that has become a son
— the soul that was a mvstery to itself, hearing conflicting, thundering
voices which it never could reconcile, having those voices schooled into
order, and heightened into music — surely must know the meaning of
indwelling joy. That is altogether independent of everything that is
external. The joy not having come from the outside is not dependent
upon the outside— not being a growth of the dust, does not depend upon
the rains of heaven or upon the light or the sun. Being internal, sub-
jective, spiritual, belonging to the innermost heart of hearts, it abides
amid collapsing external states, amidst the ruins of many outward glad-
nesses. It is there singing in the valley of the shadow of death, as
happy on earth hs it can be in heaven, according to the capacity of our
nature. I hold, therefore, that this Christian joy is not to he talked
about as an impulse, as a mere sensation. It is to be looked at in the
light of the Christian doctrines which underlie, penetrate, and explain
it. If there be any truth at all in this representation of the case, I am
not straining a single point in the whole argument in setting \i]) the
presence of this Christian joy as a test to our Christian standing befr re
God. I should like to s]teak carefully upon this, with due regard to all
kinds of hiiman experience, because no one man's heart contains the
whole human heart ; no one little life can hold the whole compass of
humanity. And we are apt, seeing things in all the narrowness and
intensity of our own experience, to conclude that that experience must
be the standard and rule of all. And especially in speaking about what
is generally understood as a state of feeling, it is necessary that the
teacher should be careful, critical, exact in his expression, lest he should
unheedingly break a bruised reed or quench the smoking flax. The great
truth, therefore, which is before us now, is this, ajtart from modiflcation
and individual exception and definition, that Christian joy is really a
test of the reality of our Christian life. This Christian joy is not a
question of temjierament. We say it is easier for some men to be
happy than it is for others, and that statement is perfectly true. Some
men seem to have no difficulty at all in being happy : there is but a step
between them and ecstasy ; they live, as it were, on the very borders of
rapture and joy of the highest kind. And it is very hard for some other
people to be anything like happy at all, even under the most favourable
circumstances. Whether they ai'e clogged by an excess of animalism,
whether there is something peculiarly inexplicable, difficult, and un-
manageable about their temperament, I cannot say. What there may
be in their nature to explain this, we do not know ; but as a mere
matter of fact, it is next to impossible for some people to be really
radiant, bright, cheerful, glad, striking out rays of inspiring gladness
around them in the family and in business. I am not, therefore, prepared
to say that both these persons, when brought under the influence of

ON HAVIN'G JOY IN THK HOLY GHOST.

4U)

CliriRti;\n thought, shall be equally demonstrative in their joy ousness, or
equally conscious of the intensity of gladness that belongs to Christian
life.

But this Christian joy, of which T am speaking, is not a question of
accident— it is not a climatic joy — it does not depend at all upon the
direction of the -wind, upon the weight of the atmosphere, upon outward
circumstances that are beyond individual control. It is not a question
of accident, but a question of life — we are born again — we come into a
new state of existence. We have shaken off the old crust, the okl
bondage, the old dominion, and have entered into newness, not of
relation, but, positively, newness of life. And therefore this Christian
joy is a test of tlie reality of our standing before God.

The question, therefore, which comes before us now is this— have we
this true joy in our hearts 1 I do not ask, are we always in what is
known as a state of happiness ; because that is a state of wretchedness,
if you really understood the case. I would not always be carried about
on the wings of a butterfly ; I do not want always to be in the blaze and
glare and fierceness of noonday ; I do not want it to be always summer.
If a man has set himself to be always in what he calls a state of happi-
ness, depend upon it that man does not know what hap])iness is — he is
never happy at all. When, therefore, I speak about Christian joy, I
speak about a feeling which is comprehensive and sovereign. As
Christiaii men have we no sorrow ? Yea, we " die daily." We carry
about with us, as it were, the dying of the Lord Jesus. We know what was
meant when it was said that " He was a man of sorrows and acquainted
with grief" We ai-e not to attach any superficial interpretation to this word
"joy," and say " Then Christians are expecting to be living in a perpetual
whirl and dance of excitement ; they are never to know what it is to
have lead in the heart, a wound in the life, and an overshadowing gloom
over all the path along which they go." We do not know anything of
that state of ideal, mis-called "happiness." As Christian men, we
have known more sorrow in Jesns Christ than ever we knew out of
Him. I took occasion in a late discourse to say that some of us never
knew what sorrow was or pain, until we knew Jesus Christ. The
sorrows of the world, like the joys of the world, never, in this present
state of life, cut down to the very roots of life, and get through and
through it. When we look at life from Christ's standard, regai-d it from
the sensitiveness of His sympathy, we know what it is to carry a great,
heavy cross that crushes us down under a weight of woe.

Then, some man will say, " Are we to understand from this descrip-
tion of your Christian life that you are often in a state of melancholy,
and depression, and sadness ?" Yes, you are to \inderstand that exactly
as jOM have said it. We have great shadowing melancholies ; we have
sorrows so great that they cannot explain themselves but in intermittent
sobs ; we have occasional agonies that rend us, and would destroy us but
for a superior power. Well then, some man will say again, " How do
you reconcile all this with Christian joy in the Holy Ghost'?" "ion
cannot reconcile it," I reply to the interrogator, "in mere words, in so
many propositions, and in so many consecutive and formal arguments.
You must live it to reconcile it." You must be some arguments ; you
cannot state them. " I am the truth," said Christ. That is it wherein

450 THE CITY TEMPLE.

we are but poor fragmentary creatures, because we sj)eak the truth often
instead of being it. So with these great conflicts and dissonances, and
liorrible agonies of the soul — we own them, we pass through them, and
we would hardly part with them ; they seem to bring with them such
secret mysteries of strength that our life would be a poor shallow thing,
if we were all left in softness and danced away in the sunshine.

But surely there must be some explanation of this feeling — of this
contrariety and conflict of feeling. So there is, and, so far as it can be
told in language, this is it. Chiistian joy includes and rules the whole
sj)hei'e of human experiences. All other feelings do but touch us, glance
off us, flutter a moment before us, and then perish. But this spiritual,
dominant, fundamental emotion sways, includes, reigns over the entire of
our emotions, impulses, feelings, hopes, as])irations, prayers. It is, so to
speak, our vital breath, our native air. You sui'ely know what it is to
have life enough in the heart to be enabled to care but little for some
wound on the skin. The central life is great enough to overcome that
little bruise. It is not vital ; it is but cutaneous. It can be moved oft'
by the billows of life that are heaving out of your strong noble heart.
That will but dimly explain what I mean, because there is a connexion
between any wound that can be made upon the human frame and the
heart that gives that frame its animal sustentation. But the little sorrows
of this present life seem to have no relation at all to the all-ruling, all-
determining joy that makes up the very centre and being of our best life ;
and as for these greater melancholies of which I have been speaking,
brothers, 'tis the light that makes the shadow ! That shadow — what is
it ? Take hold of it, analyze it. Tell us what it is. You make, after
all, but a shadow of it. A great light shows the shadow from themoun-
tain. 'Tis our great joys that make our great sorrows. Then I do not
insist that any man should live in a state of constant rapture — expect
that he should live at the full stretch of his being, and be constantly
j)utting out the entire resources of his strength. That is not what is
meant by having "joy in the Holy Ghost," spiritual gladness, spiritual
comfort. Our joy is often peace, a peace that is unfathomable and un-
s]5eakable. SometimesHhe great calm sea of our jieace rises into rapture,
the great billows of our love break into the spray of speech. The
question for us to decide in talking about Christian joy as a test of
Chiistian life, is this : is there something in our nature that we can go
back to and be content with, and more than content with, when every
door is shut in our faces, and when the flg-tree fails to bring forth its
fruit, and there is no herd in the stall, and nothing to be gleaned in the
wheat-field 1 Can we then say, " Though this be the case, I will joy —
joy in the God of my salvation ?" But if we are dependent upon the
olive-yard and the fig-tree and the wheat-field for our joy, then is it but
an atmos])heric gladness which may perish before the setting of the sun.
The Christian man feels, when all these outward things decline and
utterly fade away, his life of lives is not touched, and it is in that inner
inaccessible life that he feels the intense and unutterable joy of a true
standing through the blessed Christ before the blessed God.

But I have a word for you who may be hearing me from the outside.
I have a message for you — a message from God. He that hath ears to
hear, let him hear. " Wickednkss never brings joy !" There !

ON HAVING JOY IN THE HOLY GHOST. 451

That's my gospel to you. You dance, scream, whirl ; you are giddy,
frivolous, self-oblivious, mad ; you know not the calm, the peace, the
raptvire of intelligent joy. 'Tis a beastly excitement ! It is an animal
sensibility ! It is the animal that is in you gone mad, or the devil gone
drunk ! It is not the joy that comes of reason ; it is not the music that
can be explained in logic. You had better believe this, my young
friend, before you go any farther. Sometimes a man speaks for all the
generations that are gone : I speak in that capacity now. It is not this
individual tongue you hear. When you hear me, you hear the dead of
all ages. Every angel and prince of God that has gone away from this
scene of discipline and trial, and every soul that has withered into
devilhood — all the generations of human life conspire in ray individual
testimony, " There is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked." Is that
a sevei'e word 1 No. Severity is a relative term. It will be found to
be a gracious word, if any poor young life should be startled by it,
should turn round, and should inquire with all his heart, " What must
I do to be saved V And if any ])Oor, trembling, anxious human life is
now putting that question to me silently, again I speak for all genera-
tions, again I am the spokesman of the universal family, " Believe on the
Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved."

THE PRAYER.

Our Father which ai-t in heaven, we bless Thee that Thou hast
revealed Thyself unto tis as the blessed God. Thou art blessed for ever-
more. Thou art full of joy and love. We would be made happy in Thy
happiness ; we would be blessed with thy benediction ; we would rest in
Thy infinite peace. Forbid that we should seek for any joy less than the
joy of Thine own heart. May we never hew unto ourselves cisterns ;
may we evermore drink of the river of God, which is lull of watei*. May
we obtain joy and gladness, and know what it is for sorrow and sighing to
flee away. We rejoice that Thou hast made us callable of understanding
somewhat of Thy nature, and of reproducing it in our own life ; that
wherein we are partakers of the Divine nature we are boi*n not of cor-
ruptible seed but of incorruptible, even by the Word of God, which liveth
and abideth for evei-. Thou hast renewed us, and not we ourselves, accord-
ing to Thine infinite mercy, by thewashingofregeneration and therenewing
of the Holy Ghost. Thoii hast brought us to know what is meant by
the fear and the love of God. We bless Thee that to-day we meet in the
spirit of Christian joy. We are hap})y in Thy love, being redeemed by
Thy grace, and sustained by all Thine own comfort. We know what it
is to be filled with joy unspeakable and full of glory. " Blessed be the
God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath begotten us again unto
a lively hope by the resuiTection of our Lord Jesus Christ from the

452 THE CITY TEMPLE.

dead." And it is our joy to believe that even yet we know but little of
the gladness which Thou hast in reserve for us. " Eye hath not seen,
ear hath not heard, nor hath it entered into the heart of man to conceive."
"Our light affliction," then, "is but for a moment, working out for us
a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory whilst we look not
at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen ;
for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not
seen are eternal." Command Thy blessing to rest upon us. As Thou
pourest the rains upon the thirsty earth and revivest the tender herb with
the dews of the morning, so do Thou refresh us, Thine inheritance, and
baptize us Math all needed grace. The Lord receive our confessions of
sins, our penitential supplications, seeing that we gather round the
Saviour's Cross and utter no name but the name of Jesus Christ, whom
Thou hearest always. For His sake do Thou pardon our sin. Fill us
with the joy of the Holy Ghost, and give us that good hope through
grace, which strengthens the heart for every conflict, and sanctifies its
long endurance. And unto the Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost,
whom we know and adore as one God, be the kingdom and the power
and the glory, world without end. Amen.

SPECIAL NOTE.

The Thursday Service will, D. V., be resumed at Twelve o'clock, on
September 22nd, 1870. The Service will be conducted as hereto-
fore, and will never exceed one hour in duration.

B. Pardon <Sc Son, rrinteis. Paternoster Row, London.

I

The City Temple.

§:^txmm\%

PREACHED IN THE POULTRY CHAPEL, LONDON,

1871.

^

BV

JOSEPH PARKER, D. D,

NEW SERIES.

LONDON:
S. W. PARTRIDGE & CO., 9, PATERNOSTER ROW

MDCCCLXXI.

LONDON :

ROBINSON AND DOUGHTY, PRINTERS,

36 AND 37, COWCROSS STREET.

CONTENTS.

Introductory

The Threefold Beginning of the Gospel

HoMiLETic Analysis of the Gospel by Mark

Notes and Counsels ...

Whose IS THE Battle ?

Revised TrjVnslation of the Bible

Spiritual Discernment

Broken Columns

Scattering and Withholding

Self-governed Churches

Little but Wise ... '..,

Profitable Discipline

Thomas Archer, D.D.

Christ's Cures

The Glory of the Gospel

Joseph's Dream

God's Ability ... ... . ...

Joseph's Captivity

Joseph IN Prison

Pharaoh's Dream

Joseph's Elevation

Joseph's Brethren under Trial

Joseph's Revelation

Joseph's Death

The Strait Gate

Christ's Entry into Jerusalem

The Conviction of Sin

Enquiry for Gods

The Institute of Homiletics

pp. 10, 22, 33, 43, 5S

PAGE
I

3

81, 93

13
15

IS

27

35; 91

37

49

53
6i

73

75

85

. 98

105

"3
121
129

137
145

153
. i6i

169
177
1S5
193

201

IV.

The Church IN Parliament

Expository Readings in the Acts of the Atostles

Christ's Example

The Birth OF Samuel

The Sons of Eli

The House of Eli Overthrown

The Causes of Eli's Overthrow

The Ark of God

The Profound Influence of One Life

Making A King ...

Jov Independent of Figs

Occasional Rest

The Prepared Place

Limitations

Plain Speaking

206, 313,

203-

3-1) 3-9) 333
209
217
225
233

... 241
249

... 257
265

... 273
281
289
297

... 305

The City Temple.

INTRODUCTORY.

O far as we have been able to ascertain, this is the only Penny
Weekly Homiletic Magazine in the world. We are heartily
^ glad, therefore, to be spared the pain of entering into
competition with good men. We find an unoccupied field, and
our best endeavours will be made to cultivate it successfully. Our first
attention will be given to the pulpit department ; in which our readers
will find extemporaneous sermons, carefully prepared outlines, and por-
tions of a homiletic analysis of the New Testament. By and by we
hope to give papers on subjects of general interest, so as to make our-
selves welcome in many Christian families. We are not aware that we
are attempting to meet '• a want long and deeply felt." As that
celebrated " want" has brought to grief so many self-sacrificing devotees,
we prefer to invoke the good offices of a less ruthless patron. We
simply make an experiment. Is there room for a Penny Weekly
Homiletic Magazine ? In the belief that there is such room we go to
work, zealously and hopefully. The only pledge we make is that we
will do our best. Sometimes The City Temple may contain only a
sermon : sometimes it may have few pages, and sometimes a good
many. Much will depend upon temperature. We shall unfold to the
sunshine ; we shall shrivel under the east wind. Already we see the
typical reader who runs the pages through his fingers and thumbs, and
says there are not many of them. His standard is many., not much. Let
that servant and worshipper of the idol Big remember how little he
himself was when he began the world, and now look at his overwhelming
immensity of five feet eight and teens of stones : out oi this recollection
there may come some mercy for infant enterprises.

2 Introductory

We have a large number of literary helpers ; at present, however,
they are but imaginary. One of them is, if anything, too solid ; another
is nothing if not critical ; a third is a man of one idea, which he can
never express ; a fourth is every now and then advertised for as a
theological vagrant, but he always turns up right in the main ; a fifth is
so prosaical that we always communicate with him through the medium
of a third party ; others are average men, who can easily give you a
match, though they can never show you the sun. These are our
" staff," — an influential and most reliable dream.

Reviews of books will not be neglected, but it must be distinctly
understood by authors and publishers that we cannot undertake to
notice all the books that may be sent to us. Probably the most of
them will remain without attention. O/i this understanding alone can we
consent to receive books.

We begin our work with good heart. In preaching we hope to be
evangelical, enlightened, and stimulating : in criticism we trust to be
impartial, rigorous, and discriminating : and in controversy we shall try
to remember that charity itself is argiunent and forbearance is power.

REPORT OF A DISCOURSE DELIVERED BY

JOSEPH PARKER,

In Poultry Chapel^ on Thursday Morning, December 11, 1870.
(the fifty-ninth noonday service.)

THE THREEFOLD BEGINNING OF THE GOSPEL.

" The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God."-
Mark l, I — 8.

HE gospel may be said to have three beginnings, and yet it is
perfectly correct to say that each beginning has a speciality
and completeness of its own. The beginning of the gospel
is, of course, to be found in the thought and love of God.
We may cast our lines back as far as we can through the ages of
eternity, and we shall never be able to find the point at which God's
concern for the welfare of the universe that was to be first began, and
yet the Lamb of God is said to have been slain from before the founda-
tion of the world. The sacrifice of Christ was not an afterthought on
the part of the Divine Being ; it was, so to speak, part of Himself, an
element of His very Godhead and of His very existence. So that, if
we are really to go back to what may be tenned the beginning of
beginnings, we shall have to search the depths of the divine existence,
and follow all the wonderful and infinite course of the divine thinking
and purpose and love. There, of course, we are lost. Our hearts can
only point, as it were, towards that great solemn mystery. Explanation
we have none. Special indication is entirely beyond our power. We
are lost in wonder, and our wonder is lost in speechlessness.

But there was what may be termed a second beginning of the
gospel, and it is to that event that the gospel before us relates. The
second beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is found

4 The City Temple

in the incarnation of God's Son, AVe begin the next time at Bethlehem.
We were lost when it was a mere question ot unuttered and in speech
unutterable love. We only begin to think and to feel and to understand
in part God's meaning, when He utters His love not in speech, but in
the person, the flesh and blood of Ciod's dear Son. We can begin
there — little children can begin at that point ; our love can commence
its study at the cradle of our Lord Jesus Christ. Creatures like our-
selves need alphabets, beginnings, sharp lines, visibilities. We are not
all pure mind ; we cannot dwell upon the abstract, the unconditioned,
the absolute, the infinite, in matters of this kind. We need some one
to look at, to speak to, to go up to quite closely, and to hear speak the
language of the love of God. This is what may be termed the second
beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

But Jesus Christ himself went away. That beginning was, so to
speak, taken from us. Where then are we to look for the third begin-
ning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God ? We look for it in
the Church. As He was, so are we to be in the world. We are to be
" living epistles, known and read ot all men." When men ask, " Where
is Christ ? " we are to show them Christianity. And when they ask,
"What is Christianity?" we are to show them the Church. Mean-
while, indeed, an incomplete representation of the truth, yet Jesus
Christ himself claims it, and devolves upon the Church the responsi-
bility not only of bearing his name by exemplifying his life, but of
interpreting his doctrine and living upon his love. So, then, we don't
treat the Church as a mere accident ; we do not regard even the visible
Church as something that is of the nacure of an ordinary human associa-
tion. It is more than a society ; it is more than a club ; more than a
confraternity based upon kindred social sympathies. It is the embodied
doctrine and love of Christ ; and in so far as it falls short of that
embodiment, it has yet to be crucified, purged with fire, and searched
by the light of God. And is it not the same with all great sublime far-
reaching life ? Yonder is a man sitting alone with closed eyes, yet the
vision of his soul is fastened upon a wondrous picture. He is looking
at a great poem built in stone, at a piece of wondrous thinking, having
great foundations, far-ascending and glittering pinnacles or majestic
domes. It is all in his mind. At present it is nothing but a thought.
He is an architect. He has a cathedral in his brain, and he sees it,
every line — sees the great gaping places dug out for the foundations,
sees the courses of great rough unpolished stone — sees the building rising
into shape, into presence, into meaning, into awfulness — petrified poesy.
But that is not enough for him. Now he draws his plan. He gives the
thought visibility ; he interprets it to duller brains ; he calls in what
may be termed, without offence, a secondary order of intellect — not the
dreaming and poetic intellect, that creates new heavens and new earths
and lives in continued newness of beauty. He calls in the power that
can give expression and visibleness to great ideas, and he is not content
until he sees this thought of his built up in all its grandeur and com-
pleteness ; and even then, if he be a true artist, if the divine fire of art
be really in him, he wants something more. He does not content him-
self with looking at the great stone-work • he wants to seq the purpose

The Thrcjfcld Beginning cf the Gospel 5

for which that stone-work was put \\\) carried out, in so far as he himself
is a complete man and works upon complete ideas. There is to be an
inner cathedral, a human cathedral, a cathedral of praises, a cathedral of
living worshippers. Probably he does not in all cases reach that third
idea, Dut that third idea ought to be consequential upon the other two ;
and is, in the up-building of the great cathedral which God himself is
to inhabit — first, his own great speechless, silent, infinite, universe-
encompassing love, and then his visible Son, and then his redeemed
Church, and then the Cathedral of Praise which the Holy One of
Israel is to inhabit throughout eternity.

As it is written in the prophets, " Behold, I send my messenger
before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before thee, the voice of
one crjnng in the wlderness, prepare ye the way of the Lord, make His
paths straight." The Divine dispensations have all been progressive.
You cannot point me to a single backward step in the Divine thinking,
in the Divine movement. This Book, the book of inspiration, the Book
of God, goes right forward. There is progress, but not progress by
correction — progress by developement, by natural expansion — the tree
coming out of the seed, and the seed only lost when the tree has reached
the fulness of the tiivine intent. Now this a legitimate test of all truth,
a legitimate test of every ministry and a legitimate test of every Christian
life. The question which may be fairly put about the Bible and about
all life, all ministries and all churches, is this, " Wliat of their progressive-
ness ?" If a man is the same to-day that he was twenty years ago, he is
growing downwards, and is really not the same man that he was twenty
years ago. A man must be double the man he was twenty years ago or
there is somthing wrong in him. If you say he preaches exactly as he
did a quarter of a century since, then he was a poor preacher to begin
with and he has become worse and worse as the years have rolled away.
Now I fasten this enquiry upon the book of God, and I will stake great
results upon it. What of its progressiveness ? How did divine revela-
tion begin ? How has it proceeded ? How did it culminate ? Is the
culmination of the divine truth of the same nature and quality as the
beginning, or is there disjunction, is there vital separation? And every-
thing will depend upon the answer that can be returned to these enquries.
Now we claim on a Christian basis and for Christian purposes, that all
the dispensations have been progressive and culminative and climacteric,
and the last point of the series is of the same quality as the first. This
is a great mystery but it is an unanswerable argument. Here you have
the prophets living their tumultuous, exciting, bewildering life — great
men to-day by reason of special divine visitation, by reason of having been
called away suddenly by the Spirit of God, shown wondrous sights, and
having their ears opened to wondrous sounds — and to-morrow, weak
as common men, if not weaker, by reason of the terrible reaction — thrown
down, shattered, unable to make anything of the world or of their strange
life. God then in the first instance, has his prophets in the world — men
that lived less in the present than in the future, men therefore, who
were continually being subjected to tests of a capricious and arbitrary
kind, but never responding to such demands — men who by reason of
living in the future were subject to continual misjudgment and mis-
A 2

6 The City Temple

apprehension. Oh ! but their's vvas a sad Hfe at times. To have Httle or
no connection with the men that are round about you, to have a heart
that cannot understand or thinks it unworthy of understanding the httle
things that go to make up the present dying hour ; to be in existence
to-day, and yet to be breathing the atmosphere of centuries to come.
That was a test of Hfe that was ah-nost a divine judgment upon those
strange men the prophets.

Then after the prophets we have a voice of one crying in the
wilderness, " Prepare, " We have John the Baptist, and of John the
Baptist it is said that he was sent before the face of the Redeemer, —
" Behold I send my messenger before thy face." He was next to the face,
the presence of the coming one. The prophets were centuries away
from him, but this man was all but a transparent veil ; they could almost
see the coming God through him. He went immediately before the
face. If he stood aside but for a moment there was the one that was to
come. And oh, what a burden he caiTied who had the breath of the
predicted one breathed upon him as he was going through his introduc-
tory ministry. Now the question is how to get from Malachi to
Matthew ? Almighty God has so trained the world by prophecy, by
type, by figure, by ritualism, by manifold discipline, that he has made
the world very impatient for the next step. How to get from the Old
Testament into the New ? — that is the great question — how to get from
the one dispensation in its final phase, into another dispensation that
shall satisfy an impatient, necessitous world. Where is your human
genius there? Shut up this New Testament and deal with the Old
Testament alone, and I say, now how are you to wTite a testament that
shall be New and yet of the nature of the Old, that shall answer all the
questions suggested by the Old and satisfy the impatience which has
been wrought in the hungry heart of man by the manifold system of
training which the divine being has adopted ? Unfortunately for this
point of the enquiry, we know how the New Testament opens, and our
familiarity with it becomes our weakness. Forget if you can for one
moment how the New Testament opens. Read from Genesis to Malachi
and then ask yourselves this question : Now what can be done that
shall not throw us back, that shall make the best possible use of the
elements we have gathered, that shall move not on a side, not upon a
tang-ential line, but that shall move upon some straight line and carry it
forward to a natural and satisfactory climax. Will men put their genius
to the torment that will impose upon them — how to write a testament,
when for so many centuries we have got an old one. We have got al-
most tired of writing now. Almighty God hath wi'ought us up almost into
an angry mood. We are now jealous, impatient, strained to the highest
tension, and if we step one point backwards, it is to us atheism, de-
fiance, and hell if need be. What will He do ? We have had prophecy,
we have had great temples, we saw the procession of the priests, we have
watched the sacrifices, always beginning never ending, or ending only to
begin again ; but we are tired ot that now, and we in this excited, strained,
impatient, anxious, wondering temper say, " How will God go on
next ?" Oh, I dare hardly turn the page over ; it seems that in the
turning of this page our destiny is being turned, is being settled for good

The Threefold Beginning of the Gospel J

or evil. What can come after prophets and minstrels and priests and
mighty but insufficient interpreters of the divine purpose ? Now I turn
the page and I find this solution — " Immanuel, God with us," and the
artist that is in me, the idealist that is in me, as well as the sinner that is
in me, says, " It is enough ! " My Lord and my God ! Yes, we could
not have written in mere words a New Testament. The world could
not have borne that ; but when the New Testament was written in the
flesh and blood of God himself, and the man that spoke to us was
Immanuel, a man that could stoop like a mother and look like a God,
It is enough !

And John said, " I indeed have baptised you with water,
but He shall baptise you with the Holy Ghost." The crown-
ing dispensation must be spiritual. " He shall baptise you with the
Holy Ghost." There cometh a time in all study when we want
to get clear of mere formulae and mere lines and laborious and
intricate processes, and we want to have that mental dominance which
brings us into constant recognition and appreciation of the truth. We
get tired of looking, we get tired of using powers that were intended to
be merely temporary. The Divine Being comes to us, and turns our
religion from a process of looking and enquiry and hard service into
spin.'ual life, spiritual love, until we know what it is to have the power of
instantly going to God and of holding, as it were, face-to-face commu-
nion and fellowship with him. That is, if we be baptised with the Holy
Ghost, the Holy Ghost takes hold of the highest faculties of our nature
and works with those alone. The body falls off. All that was instru-
mental and of the nature of agency fades and drops away, and we come
into mind-power, moral power, spiritual mastery ; and things which
aforetime were difficult and almost impossible to us, become easy and
natural, and communion with God becomes the very breath of our
souls.

What, then, of the subject as it has thus been hinted at? If we
have in any degree laid hold of its meaning, it is evident that the sub-
ject addresses a word in the first place to students. Here is a revelation
to be studied, my brethren, and we shall only be wise masters in this
art in proportion as we have a grasp of the whole. Our theology must
not be angular but circular : it must not be beautiful in one or two
places, it must be complete. We must understand the dispensations
each in itself and each in its relation to the succeeding order of things ;
othenvise we shall be thrown about by everybody who chooses to play
legerdemain with us. We shall have questions put to us that we can-
not answer, and difficulties which we might otherwise count as trifles
will be mountainous and insuperable. We must get into that state of
mind that sees the beginning and that sees the end, and grasps the
extremes, so far as it is possible for limited life so to grasp them. There
are many men who are very clever in certain points, but take them out
of those points and they are shorn Samsons — any child can trifle with
them. No, we must, if we are to be successful and useful students and
ministers of these holy mysteries, have something like a grasp of the
whole ; and though we may not be able to answer special difficulties
and peculiar enquiries, yet, as in the spiritual life so in the intellectual

8 The City Temple

regions, we shall bring the power of the endless to bear upon the diffi-
culties that are momentary. I confess, after having done my best to
study this Book, that I am most imi)ressed by its unity, its complete-
ness, by the inter-relation of part to part, so that if I touch one point I
break up its completeness, I impair and injure its wondrous beauty.
There are points where I am dumb — mysteries that I cannot shed any
light upon, and from which I cannot extract one explanatory word — but
when I look at the whole, the complete dispensations of God, I find
their very completeness one of the most convincing and determining
arguments.

Here is a lesson to Churches. " Have ye received the Holy
Ghost ? " It was reserved for you specially to be baptised by the Holy
Spirit. Are you still lingering among the prophets ? You are not in
Christ if so be ye have not received the Holy Ghost. Do you tell me
you are busy gathering what you may from the lightning-scared slopes of
Sinai ? I say Sinai ! A fragment of the past ! It is novy what of
Calvary and what of Olivet and what of the Church, the temple into
which the Holy Ghost came as baptising fire ? No man is at liberty to
live backwards. If the prophets underwent misjudgment and torment
by reason of having to live in the future, what shall be said of those
poor ricketty creatures who are always trying to go back into the dim
])ast, to exhume the prophets, and to live three or four centuries
behind their privileges ? The whole judgment now is a judgment of
the Holy Ghost, not what questions can we answer, not what histories
have we considered and mastered, but what about the inward baptism,
the baptism of fire, the baptism of life, the gift of the spirit of interpre-
tation and the spirit of purity. These are the searching questions which
become to us terrible as the judgment of Almighty God.

Here is a lesson to pioneers. John was a herald and John knew
the position to which he was called, and he never trepassed the limits of
his vocation. When he spoke he did not speak in his own name, he did
not draw attention to himself, he always spoke of the one mightier than
he, who was immediately coming. And what are we brethren, whether
we be ministers or teachers or parents or churches, what are we really so
far as our service goes but pioneers, those who shall prepare for and
point out the one mightier than ourselves? If for a moment John had
supposed himself to be the Messiah, what a shock and what terrible
results would have followed ! Men must know their power, men must
know their calling, and when a man knows his limitations it is surpris-
ing how mighty a weak man is. Keep him within his own province,
bind him to his own mission, and within his proper boundaries, he is a
prince and a son of God ; but let him get beyond that line and he is
captured as an intruder or is slain as a spy. Let us know what is meant
by our position as pioneers. If the frame-maker should ever take it
into his head that he is the artist, what an anti-climax would be per-
petrated ! If April should ever take it into its head that it can do the
work of August, what a block there would be in the process of the
year.

We are called to different positions in the Church. God hath
set some in the Church pastors, prophets, evangelists, teachers, helps,

The Threefold Beginning of the Gospel 9

governors, every one as it pleaseth him. What then ! We are not to
devour one another, we are not to envy one another, we are not to say
hard, cruel, unkind, depreciatory words about one another ; a man must
find out what God intended him to be in the course of his dispensation,
and if he be that, however humble the position, he will have resting
upon him the ever sustaining and ever comforting blessing of God.
Are you an evangelist ? I glorify God in you ; do not try to be anything
else. Have you in you the consciousness that you can be something
else, something that you think higher ? First of all I do not know that
it is higher — I do not know that there is anything higher in the church
than being an evangelist, one that preaches the Gospel here and there
and wheresoever opportunity is given him, or he himself can make op-
portunity for the proclamation of it. But if it has got into you that you
can do something higher, be careful, make it a matter of profound
religious enquiry before you step out of the position you are now in.
Are you a pastor ? I glorify God in you ; I long for, I almost covet
your powers. You have such a way of dropping your voice so that the
dullest can hear you and the weakest are made glad by your presence ;
you can put so much truth into so few words, that one covets, with a
godly covetousness, your rich and most fruitful gifts. Do not try to be
anything else merely for the sake of change. If there be in you another
calling, God in his ovm time and in his own way, will make it quite
clear to you. Are you labouring in a village and does it ever enter into
your head that you would like to labour in London ? You had better
not, you had better not entertain that notion, it hath driven some men
almost crazy, and it is a very perilous thing to play with — a notion of
that kind, that a man is adapted to Metropolitan life when probably he
is adapted to nothing of the sort. " To fill up the sphere we have"
should be our duty and our joy. " It is only a nutshell." Well then
it will take less filling. " It is only a little village." Well thenyou will
make your work the more manifest and the more speedy. I do not say
that every man is to abide just where he is. Nothing of the kind ; but
whilst he is there, he is bound by every consideration that can stir a
true man's heart and strength to make the very best of his position.

Here is a lesson to enquirers in the last place. My friends, there
is nothing more to come. If I have read this Book aright, I find that it
is a shut volume ; it is now complete ; there is nothing more to be
written. Now, if you are waiting for something else, I feel it incumbent
upon me, as the result of my own studies, io say in my own name that
the vision is closed, and there is nothing more to come. What more
can you possibly want ? The prophets have been here, flaming men,
men with voices like trumpets and thunder — they have been here. The
minstrels, men of poesy, dreaming men, men who had eyes that could
see visions in the night time — they have been here. They are gone.
Priests have been here, men who shed blood and who explained the
meaning of the blood which they shed, who built the altars and
officiated at those altars — they have been here, and they have gone.
And John the Baptist, the preliminary man, the man who went imme-
diately before the face — he has been here and gone. And Immanuel

lO

The City Temple

has been here — " God with us." And die Holy Ghost is come to us.
What more can there be to wait for ? If this cannot satisfy us, then
what will appease our hunger ? He must be a bold man that can elbow
and cleave and force his way to hell through prophets and priests and
psalmists and Baptists and God's Son and God the Holy Ghost, and
then say, as he takes the last plunge, " There was not enough given me ;
I was waiting for something else, and that something else never came."
Will you risk that ? Have you made the best of what has been given ?
Are you really masters of the Book of God, able to understand its
scope and its meaning ? Oh, see to it, that there is not some little or
great pebble of selfishness over which you are just going to topple into
darkness and ruin and death. O Thou, who madest the eyes of the
heart, anoint the eyes of our love, that we may see Thee, and be
fascinated by Thy beauty tor ever, Amen.

A HOMILETIC ANALYSIS

OF THE

CHAPTER I.

1 The beginning of the gospel of Jesus
Christ the Son of God ;

2 As it is written in the prophets, Behold,
I send my messenger before thy face, which
shall prepare thy way before thee.

3 The voice of one crying in the wilderness,
Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his
paths straight.

4 John did baptize in the wilderness, and
preach the baptism of repentance for the
remission of sins.

5 And there went unto him all the land of
Judaea, and they of Jerusalem, and were all
baptized of him in the river of Jordan, con-
fessing their sins.

6 And John was clothed with camel's hair,
and with a girdle of skin about his loins ; and
he did eat locusts and wild honey ;

7 And preached, saying, There cometh one
mightier thau I after me, the latchet of whose
shoes I am not worthy to stoop down and
unloose.

8 I indeed have baptized you with water :
but he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost.

I. The Gospel has had three

beginnings, yet it is right to speak
of each as The beginning —

I St. The beginning as seen in
the Divine counsels, Avhen the
Gospel was but a Thought. 2nd.
The beginning as seen in the Incar-
cation, when the Gospel became a
Person. 3rd. The beginning as
seen in its believers, when the Gos-
pel becomes a New Creation.

II. One beginning of the Gospel
is always introductory to another.
It is so in the highest human think-
ing. There is, first, the diought,
then the agent or representative,
then the result. From Mark's pre-
face we learn that there was — (i)
A prophecy. (2) A pioneer. (3)
An introductory rite. The import-

A Homiletic Analysis

1 1

ance of this view is shown by
two considerations.

1st. // indicates the consistency
and progressiveness of Divine revela-
tion. The terms Old Testament
and Ne2a Testament are equal to
old seed and new flower. They are
the same in different stages of
unfoldment. God's truth is one.

2nd. // supplies a test of the
genuineness of professed revelation.
The fragment must be of the
same quality as the mass. There
must be continuous augmentation
of light and power. The move-
ment is from John to Jesus, never
from Jesus to John. Look at the
Old and New Testament, and
mark the ascending line of thought.

III. No beginning of the gospel
can be true and effectual except as
it leads to a spiritual consumma-
tion. The prophets pointed to
John, John pointed to Jesus, Jesus
pointed to the Holy Ghost. This
fact shows —

ist. The transitoriness of all
mere ceremony.

2nd. The uselessness of all mere
knowledge.

3rd. The possibility of the high-
est fellowship with God.

The subject addresses a lesson —

First : To Students. You have
to deal with a harmonious and
progressive revelation. In order to
be wise master-builders, you must
grasp the revelation as a whole.
You must know it in its propor-
tions, analogies, and tendencies ;
otherwise you might be sacrificing a
principle to an accident, or exagger-
ating the ceremonial to the neglect
of the spiritual.

Second : To Pioneers. A man
only works well in proportion as
he knows the measure of his power
and the limit of his mission. When
the frame-maker mistakes himself

for the painter, art is degraded.
It does not follow that because a
man knows the alphabet he can
write a book. The pioneer must
never go in the king's clothes.
April cannot do the work of
August.

Third : To Churches. Have
you received the Holy Ghost ?
You have admired the prophets,
but have ye received the Holy
Ghost? You have fought secta-
rian battles at the river side, but
have ye received the Holy Ghost ?

Fourth : To Enquirers. There
is nothing more to come. You
have had prophets, psalmists, law-
givers, Christ and the dispensation
of the Spirit. Why wait ?

9 And it came to pass in those days, that
Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee, and was
baptized of John in Jordan.

I. John's dispensation was thus
shewn to be of divine appointment.
Notice the beauty of John's work in
relation both to the past and to the
future, it was a baptism unto repent-
ance : a baptistn, and so connected
with the ceremonial past ; — a bapt-
ism unto repentance, and so intro-
ductory to a new and more intensely
spiritual state of things.

II. But why should Jesus Christ
identify himself with a baptism
which was unto repentance ? His
identification with that baptism was
not lor the purpose of personal con-
fession, but for the purpose of
official absorption : he took up the
dispensation and ended it by the
introduction of a better. So, when
he took upon himself the nature of
mankind, he did not degrade and
enfeeble God, he elevated and
glorified man.

10 And straightway coming up out of the
water, he saw the heavens opened, and the
Spirit like a dove descending upon him :

12

The City Tem-ple

1 1 And there came a voice from heaven,
saying. Thou art my beloved Son, in whom I
am well pleased.

Whatever is done in the divine
name and for the divine glory is
succeeded by increasing evidence
of divine favour. What Jesus saw
on coming out of the water, we
should all see on returning from
every act of homage and obedience,
(i) The Spirit is a heavenly gift,
not a natural grace; (2) Sonship
is not generic it is specific, — Thou ;
(3) Sonship is not left a mystery, it
is declared and confirmed to the
individual heart.

12 And immediately the spirit driveth him
into the wilderness.

13 And he was there in the wilderness
forty days, tempted of Satan ; and was with
the wild beasts ; and the angels ministered
unto him.

(i) Sonship does not exempt
from temptation ; (2) Temptation
does not invalidate Sonship ; (3)
Temptation, rightly answered,
makes Sonship a lite and power.
We are not to be content with
nominal Sonship. We are to be
proved men. Contrast Matthew's
account of the Temptation with
Mark's. The one is minute and
elaborate ; the other is compendi-
ous. What history may be put into
a sentence ! There are experiences
which cannot be put into words, —
they can only be hinted at. Some
men have not the power of spiritual
analysis ; they cannot follow a
temptation through its changing
assaults and attitudes. Mark was
probably not equal to Matthew in this
particular. As with Temptation so
with Conversion. Some men can
only say that they are converted,—
explanation and discussion are
beyond their power. " And the
angels ministered unto him," tlie
darkest temptation has some light
to relieve it. When we feel the

devil, we should look for the angels.

14 Now after that John was put into
prison, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the
gospel of the kingdom of God,

15 And saying, The time is fulfilled, and
the kingdom of God is at hand : repent ye,
and believe the gospel.

(i) The imprisonment of the
servant does not hinder the pro-
gress of the Master. (2) 111 treat-
ment of the messenger may actually
help to prove the Divinity of . the
message : (a) it tests sincerity, (b)
it tests the sustaining power of the
doctrine that is preached. The 15th
verse shews Jesus Christ in three
aspects : (i) As the interpreter of
Time ; (2) As the revealer of the
Divine Kingdom ; (3) As a Spirit-
ual Regenerator. Under these
heads note —

Time : The preparative process —
the development of opportunity—
the moral import of special times.

Kingdom : Not a transient erec-
tion ; not a subordinate arrange-
ment \ not a human ambition — the
kingdom of God.

Regeneration : Vital; progressive;
spiritual : Vital — Repent, destroy
the past, humble yourselves on
account of sin : Progressive, after
humiliation is to come trust, the
broken heart is to be the believing
heart : Spiritual, — not a change of
mere attitudes and relations, but a
change of life.

It is to be specially noted that
Jesus Christ preached the kingdom
of God as a gospel, — rightly under-
stood it is not a despotism, it is
not a terror, it is the supremacy
of light, of truth, of love.

The City Temple.

NOTES AND COUNSELS.

SCOTCHMAN asked a minister for five shillings, and in
return for the favour, said, " I'll give you a day's hearing
some time." It is undoubtedly understood by many that
in listening to a minister they are conferring a favour
upon him. A person once asked me to lend him a sovereign, and in
supjDort of his request informed me that he had long attended my
ministry. Possibly the man richly deserved a sovereign for having done
so ; at the same time it is a popular mistake to suppose that the
minister is the party receiving the favour. He gives his hearers his best
thinking, his best power of all kinds, and it is therefore a pity to show
him thankfulness by borrowing money of him.

2. I have heard of a minister who was paid his quarterly salary by
instalments. The treasurer of the church would give him a pound or
two now and then, and promise him more when the pew-rents were
paid. It is a popular mistake to suppose that punctuality is not needed
in church payments. Punctuality on the side of the church will assist
punctuality on the side of the minister. It is our happy conviction that
by far the majority of ministers are punctually paid ; at the same time
there are exceptions enough to justify this reference.

3. It is a popular error to mistake that length is the only dimension
of at sermon. A man said to a minister, " Your sermons are too short.''
Said the minister, " If you will practice all I preach you will find them
quite long enough." A sentence may be a sermon. It is too true that
some sermons are tediously long, yet even in some of those cases it
should be remembered that there are bad hearers as well as bad
preachers. The man in the front pcAv (of any church) who holds down
his head or trifles with his prayer-book during the sermon will be a
trouble to the best preacher. There should be at least one electrical
hearer in every church. The preacher will soon find him out.

4. It is a common error to suppose that a church is dead because it
is not making a noise. Some people would keep up a continued round

14 Notes and Counsels.

of tea meetings, bazaars, Dorcases, holiday makings, and tnmipet-
blowings, and advertise the same as signs of spiritual life. Some in-
judicious man once drew a distinction between perspiration and inspira-
tion. He must have had his eye upon the people in question. Spiritual
life is generally quiet. There may be periods of intense excitement, but
they cannot last. We should remember that the river is not deepest
where it is noisiest.

5. It is a popular error to suppose that a gig can go on one wheel.
The minister must have the co-operation of his hearers. They must be
workers together. The minister cannot beg and organise and visit and
preach and preside, — get up bazaars, establish societies, collect for
chapel debts, tell anecdotes at sewing meetings, and reconcile all the
differences which arise between two and ninepence and half-a-crown.
He is called to preach the gospel, — work enough for the strongest
powers ! Let him be encouraged and honoured in his holy vocation.

There is no work so glorious as interpreting the purposes of God con-
cerning a world dead in trespasses and sins. To this work the minister
is called. He has trials peculiar to his position, but the compensations
entirely counterbalance them. To know that he has been the means
of leading souls out of darkness into God's marvellous light, is to realise
a joy unspeakable and full of glory. Before the intensity of that joy all
trials are dwarfed and annihilated. And what is the worth of our
ministry if it be not attested by souls that have felt its power ? Mere
cleverness, skill in textualism, power of speech, is less than nothing :
the sign that is most undoubted and most to be coveted, is the sign of
souls owning Jesus Christ as Saviour and King. Let us, as the new
year advances, show more and more clearly that as ministers we are
determined not to know anything among men save Jesus Christ and
him crucified. Then shall the year be bright with a light above the
brightness of the sun. We shall have reminders enough that we are
still on earth, yet even in the coldest wind we shall detect some odour
of Heaven.

The same admonition may be addressed to the churches. Our
safety is nearness to the Cross. As we stray from that, we stray into
darkness and into unholy, life. Brethren, the throne of grace should be
our refuge, — the secret place of the Most High our daily habitation.
To be holiest is to be happiest. To know Christ's heart is to delight in
Christ's service. Dear Saviour, wounded for us, and for us now plead-
ing in the Heaven made the sweeter to Thee by Thy recollections of
earth, fill us all with Thine own spirit ! To know Thee is to know all
things. To serve Thee is to turn our whole life into music. To sufter
for Thee is to bear wounds for the King's sake, and through sanctified
tears to see far into the better world. In Thy strength, then, we move
forward to do and bear all Thy holy and gentle will.

REPORT OF A DISCOURSE DEUVERED BY

JOSEPH PARKER,

In Poultry Chapel, on Thursday Morning, January 5, 1871.
(the sixty-first noonday service.)

WHOSE IS THE BATTLE?

" The battle is not yours, but God's." — 2 Chronicles xx., 15.

EHOSHAPHAT, the fourth king of Judah, was a man of high
reUgious character, of much zeal in the right way, and of true
and noble instinct in all political and religious controversy.
Yet there was in his character a remarkably weak side ; this
man, like many others, had a vulnerable heel. There was in him
what is exceedingly interesting and precious in personal character and
social intercourse, but what is not always in such good place in a king and
public man — a strong vein of amiability. Amiability may lead to many and
grievous faults. Under certain circumstances the King of Judah was too
easily persuaded. When he fell into the hands of the impious and crafty
Ahab, who occupied the rival throne of Israel, he too readily succumbed
to his seductive power. Jehoshaphat fell a good deal into the hands
of Ahab, and it was probably not unnatural, when it is considered that
Jehoshaphat's eldest son married Athaliah, the daughter of Ahab. So
the tenderest bonds of society may harden into the chains of the worst
slavery. Having been schooled by Ahab, Jehoshaphat joined his
successor Ahaziah, Avho also did, according to the history, very wickedly.
Jehoshaphat and Ahaziah went into a ship-building partnership, which
ended disastrously, the ships being all broken and never able to reach
Tarshish. Jehoshaphat then joined Joram, the next king of Israel, in an
expedition against Moab, and then there opens a most tragic and exciting
history. We cannot go into that history now, suffice to say that this war
exasperated the INIoabites, and impelled them to retaliate upon a great
scale. Their kinsmen, the Ammonites, the Syrians, and the_ Edomites
combined in one tremendous offensive aUiance, and entering Judah
openly defied Jehoshaphat its king.

1 6 The City Temple

It is in connection with this war that we find our text. All this
hostility of the Moabites developed to the full the deeply religious nature
of Jehoshaphat. He feared, and set himself, and proclaimed a fast
throughout all Judah. The towns of Judah hastened to Jerusalem ; the
whole nation became as the heart of one man. When the concourse
assembled, under circumstances so touching, so terrible, Jehoshaphat
the king stood in the midst of his people in the house of the Lord,
before the new court, and offered the following sublime appeal to
Heaven : — " Oh, Lord God of our Fathers, art not Thou God in
Heaven ? and rulest Thou not over all the kingdoms of the heathen, and
in Thy hand is there not power and might, so that none is able to with-
stand Thee ? Art not Thou our God who didst drive out the inhabitants
of this land before Thy people Israel, and gavest it to the seed of
Abraham, Thy friend for ever. And they dwelt therein, and they built
Thee a sanctuary therein for Thy name saying : if when evil cometh
upon us, the sword, judgment, or pestilence, or famine, we stand before
this house in Thy presence (for Thy name is in this house), and cry unto
Thee in our affliction, then Thou wilt hear and help. And now behold
the children of Ammon and Moab, and Mount Seir, whom Thou
wouldst not let Israel invade when they came out of the land of Egypt,
but they turned from them and destroyed them not. Behold, I say how
they reward us to come and cast us out of Thy possession which Thou
didst give us to inherit. Our God, wilt not Thou judge them, for we
have no might against this great company that cometh against us ?
neither know we what to do ; but our eyes are upon Thee." A king's
prayer for his people in the time of national disaster. There was one
spokesman, but he pleaded for the whole nation. All Judah stood
before the Lord, with their little ones, their wives and their children. It
was a nation in extremity ; yet in the crisis of its peril, it showed the
sublimity of child-like trust in the merciful and almighty God of Heaven.
After Jehoshaphat had concluded his prayer, a strange scene occurred.
There fell upon one man in the company of Jehosaphat the
Spirit of the Lord, and instantly, with a voice like the trump of God,
he said, " Be not afraid, nor dismayed, by reason of this great
multitude, for the battle is not yours but God's. Ye shall not
need to fight in this battle ; set yourselves, stand still, and see the salva-
tion of the Lord." There can be no doubt that this shows to men, in
the most graphic and impressive form, the value of the religious element
in national affairs. We have a common saying amongst us, much lauded,
" Trust in God, and keep your powder dry." I am not prepared to say
that that saying is entirely without foundation in common sense ; I believe
that it comprehends a large amount of prudence. I have no doubt that
as used by certain men, it is a very sensible thing to say. At the same
time, it is not in the mouth of every man so admirable an injunction after
all. It will not bear (as used by the men now specially refered to)
examination in the light of an incident like this. If we trusted God more
we should give him greater scope for intervention. We have taken every-
thing upon ourselves. We have mounted a gun wherever we could ; we
have worked with the desperation of Atheists. Many a time, indeed, we
have asked God to bless our arms ; but when did we ask him to bless our

Whose is the Battle? 17

simple, child-like, holy trust ? It is perfectly possible for a saying like
the popular expression, which has just been quoted to be used as the
expression of a sneer. It is very possible for the expression also to
cover a latent Atheism. I am not so fanatical as to deny the use of
means. Nor will I expose myself to the charge of seeking peace at
any price, and succumbing to overwhelming circumstances. But I do
wish to preach this, in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation,
that if we gave God more scope, he might more obviously interpose in
our national affairs. Of one place it was said, He could not do many mighty
works there because of their unbelief

If we take our own affairs upon our own shoulders, work like
Atheists, and if only when we are in extremity, begin to pray, we cannot
wonder that God should allow us oftentimes to be smitten with our own
weapons, and to feel how poor a thing it is to depend entirely upon our
t>wn sagacity and power.

Now, by brethren, if history is to be anything more than a dead
letter to us, we ought to get more stimulation from an incident like this.

Here you have Judah in obvious peril ; you have the king standing
in the holy place, invoking the presence and care of God. What does
God do under such circumstances ? This : x\lmighty God set the
men who had come to fight Judah one against another, and when the
people of Jehoshaphat began to sing and to praise, the Lord set ambush-
ments against the children of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir, which
were come against Judah, and they were smitten ; for the children of
Ammon and Moab stood up against the inhabitants of Mount Seir,
utterly to slay and destroy them, and when thay had made
an end of the inhabitants of Seir, every one helped to
destroy another. God turned the armies one upon another — turned
them against themselves — and the army that came out to fight Jehosha-
phat committed suicide. God hath many ways at his disposal of which
we know nothing. We look at the things that are seen and temporal ;
we make calculations ; we depend upon things that are visible and sub-
stantial ; we eliminate the spiritual element and supernatural considera-
tion, and it is possible to be Atheists in practice whilst we are religious
in mere sentiment. God can touch the reason of men ; God can touch
the eyes of men, so that a man shall mistake his brother for an enemy ;
God can send a blight upon this tremendous host — and these great,
wonderful, mighty, boastful, and tremendous powers may be withered
like the grass under the touch of the Almighty. Very possibly some
nations do require nothing short of the physical sword. Very likely
nothing else would meet their case — they must have social humiliation.
Let us admit all that, and still it remains true, that they who have God as
their captain, have victory as the sure result. I say trust ! But my object
was not to dwell upon the public and political bearings of the subject,
but to hold up the text as a new year's watchword in our spiritual
life. " The battle is not yours, but God's." I wish us to hold that at
the very beginning of the year, and to take through all the strife,
and contention, and unrest, and apprehension, which will surely fall to
our lot during the twelve months upon which we have entered. It
B 2

1 8 The City Temple

rebukes our selfishness ; it humbjes our power ; it shows us that patience
and trust are better than edged w"eap9fis and engines of destruction. Let
us dwell upon it with a view of obtaining from it the strength which our
circumstances will undoubtedly require.

In the training of our highest life we want principles as well as
detailed laws. A law may apply to a particular point. Law may be
merely local and temporary. In addition to laws which relate to the
details of life, and which are exceedingly admirable for daily use and re-
ference, we want great principles which encompass all time, touch all
circumstances, which never vary in their value, and which are always
certain in their application. We do not deny that a man may
be clever, sagacious, inventive, full of resources as respects daily
difficulties and daily trials, without having any deep religious life.
But such men, as it were, may be all the while living from hand to
mouth. Having no fontal spring, nor any sure place from which they
can draw water all the year round, whatever may be their conditions
and schemes, they are simply shrewd sagacious men. Full of maxims,
proverbs, and precepts, they want the solidity, the grasp, the grander
light and mystery of love, which can only be given to men in proportion
as they lay hold of great religious principles, which do not change
according to policies or situation or climate or conditions or circum-
stances of any kind, but which go right through to the end of a
man's life, and which rejoin him in eternity as surely as they ever came
unto him. Now this is the one principle referred to. " The battle of
life is not ours but God's." God is far more concerned about us than
we can be about ourselves. We make a great deal of fuss about our
position. We make all the noise, but he does all the work. We make
tumult and demonstration, and show great anxiety and great distrac-
tion, and after all our Father which is in Heaven, and who is looking
down upon our daily strife, is really more deeply concerned in our
highest welfare than Ave can be ourselves. We see portions of things.
We see edges of life. We mistake the fraction for the whole number ;
we mistake the decimal for the integer. He sees the whole circle of
relations, proportions, and bearings of the inward parts of our life ; and
when we think him least careful of us, he may at that very moment be
preparing for us, for our enjoyment and strength, some of his richest
and best gifts.

In the culture of our highest life we must regard extremity as one
phase of divine discipline. Jehoshaphat Avas driven into a corner. He
said openly in the hearing of his people, " We have no might against
this great host." We have no resources of our own in this critical,
terrible emergency, but " our eyes are upon Thee." And have not many
of us reason to be thankful for the extremities into which we have been
driven ? So long as we had one single inch on which we could stand,
we have been self-reliant, boastful, and almost atheistically hopetul. So
long as we have had one hair's breadth that we could call our own, we
have said even yet we may work this thing out and right the mystery
ourselves ; and it was not until that hair's breadth was taken away from
us, and we were altogether in extremity that we began to feel how

Whose is the Battle ? 19

terrible a thing it would be if there were no Ood in the heavens, and
if no Fathers heart were brooding over the earth.

It was when your business became so imperilled, impoverished and
racked that you began to cry out for the living God. It was when physicians
had given you up, and your best friends had bidden you adieu, that you
began to think whether there was not after all some secret in religion
you had not yet known, and some safety in piety of which you had been
up to that time heedless. And so in many relations of life, we have
found in extremity what we never found in prosperity, and our weakness
has become our strength. And in the consolidation of our highest life we
must remember that repose not strife is the last result of piety. We
want most succour when we are most effusive. We are only half-trained
and probably ill-trained men, so long as we show signs of anxiety, fear,
suspicion, apprehension about the future. Repose, quietness is the last
phase of the highest life. Rest is the ultimate condition of motion. If the
earth were to go one mile less in a thousand years she would stagger in
her course, her velocity is her safety, and the last result of her motion is
rest, and so it must be with us. Be assured that the true test of our growth is
the depth and reality of our rest and repose. When fear comes upon
a nation, in proportion to the depth of piety in that nation will be its
calmness. Is there some great cloud lowering and darkening over your
dwelling place ? In proportion to your piety will be the depth, calm, and
placidity of your hearts. You will not be going about here and there, rushing
hither and thither, as if depending upon yourself You will feel the time has
now come in which your strength is to stand still, and in which you will be
most happy doing nothing. That is a hard lesson for some natures to
learn — for men who believe in what they term variety, for men of energy,
men of great enthusiasm of spirits. It is a difhcult lesson to learn that
strength is to stand still and patiently wait for the coming of God. Calm-
ness is not weakness ; rest does not display want of ability. Men do not
stand still in the true sense of that term, simply because they have
nothing they can do ; but they stand still with most grace, with complete
and impressive dignity, when they are simply waiting for the coming
down of God to their rescue. The text addresses all who are trying to
live in the fear and love of God under discouraging circumstances.
There may be some such here to day. Their business associations are
worldly ; the influence of these associations is chilling, depressing. What
I have to say to you, my friends, is this, " the battle is not yours, but
God's." For they that be with you are more than all that can be against
you. If you are trusting in God, God will work out his victories in your
experience ; but if you take the case into your own hands, and manage
your own affairs in your own way, God will very likely leave you to see
how poor are your best resources and how fruitless is your utmost vigour.
Your strength is in the power of Almighty God !

The text also addresses a word to all who are bearing Christian
protest against evil. There is a time in which men can do nothing else
but protest ; a time when fighting ceases, and what man does amounts
to nothing ; when all that a man can do is to set himself as the prophet
commanded Jehoshaphat to do. " Set yourselves, stand still, and see the

■20 The City Temple

salvation of the Lord with you." You know what the meaning of this
doctrine is. Many a time you would like to go forward into battle and
strife, to challenge men to open fight, to test the power of your arms as
against their arms, and yet it can't be done. You know, also, what it is
to be in circumstances where everything is dead against you. If you
speak you are put down ; if you offer to move you are driven back.
You are one in a multitude, and your feeble voice is drowned by the
voice of opposition. Under such circumstances you can but set your-
selves ; your face may be in the right direction, your protest may be
sound, though you cannot go forward into battle and win victories.
From this we have to learn the power of faithfulness and the strength of
reliance upon God.

There is also a word here to all who are undergoing severe tempta-
tion. Some of us are beset from time to time by temptations of a
special severity. What, then, are we to consider that the whole answer
is in the heart ? Are we not to take into account God's watchfulness
over our life ? Are we to forget the great doctrine, that in these matters
of temptation and trying discipline, "The battle is not ours, but God's."
Then we come to the doctrine that God is more careful for the salvation
of our hearts than we ever can be ourselves. His whole sympathy is
with us in the struggle. His whole resourses are at our command. When
the fight goes most terribly against us, there is nothing in His heart that
He is not willing to communicate in the time of our spiritual extremity.

Here is a word, also, for all who are labouring for the good of the
world. Some of us have undertaken to do what we can for the evangeliza-
tion of all nations. Some of us are missionaries, some Sunday school
teachers, some ministers of the gospel, others are heads of houses
who are doing their utmost to bring other men to a knowledge of the
Lord and obedience in His way. Others are engaged in various manners
for the e.xtension of light, purity, and peace. What is our guarantee ? Is
it in our wit, our own strength, our own power of endurance ? No ;
" The battle is not yours, but God's." What is our hope that the world
will one day be subdued to the sceptre of Jesus Christ? It is not in
the number of our instrumentalities; it is not in the number of men we
send forth into the field to do the Lord's work. What is our guarantee
that from the rising of the sun to the setting down of the same there
shall be one kingdom, and the king of that empire shall be the Crucified
Christ ? What is our hope ? It is this. The mouth of the Lord hath
spoken it : " The battle is not yours, but God's." And when we go up to
fight, He will work out the victory.

Here is a word also to all who are engaged in controversy on behalf
of Christian doctrine. Sometimes I am almost afraid we exclude God
from our Christian controversies. There is a danger of thinking it is
a battle of one man against another. There is a good deal of striving
for mere victory in words. The anxiety of the church is oftentimes
the disgrace of the church. If our faith in the living God were what it
ought to be we should rest verj' calmly in the midst of all doctrinal

WJwse is the Battle? 21

controversy and contention. Am I told all science is against faith ?
Am I told that some man has made a very wonderful discovery which
will have a hostile effect upon Christian position and Christian service ?
What becomes me under such intelligence ? Anxiety, whimpering, and
weakness ? Not at all ! I say the "battle is not mine, but God's." If
any man has succeeded in discovering anything that will throw a light
upon any portion of Christian revelation, or that will destroy any portion
of Christian revelation, receive it with calmness. Be calm in receiving bad
intelligence, and don't jump at conclusions which are against the history
of the ages and the history of the church. Let us wait patiently if men
are working in this corner or that, in this field or in yonder field.
Wait until they get their results put together ; till they make a complete
case ; because after all the battle is not ours but God's, and these men
cannot get beyond God's kingdom for any evidence and for any results
wherever they are, high as Heaven, deep as hell, down in the sea or
flying in the air upon the wings of the morning. They are still within
the boundaries ot the divine empire, and if God is sending any message
by them, let us wait patiently till they tell it all, till they tell it in their
best manner and let us quietly and nobly take it into our devoutest
consideration.

Our anxiety is our disgrace \ our fear is a charge, an accusation
against God himself. If we had to defend everything, and to fight every-
thing in our own strength and for our ends, the case would be perfectly
different ; but \A\t\\ God says to us, " Ye have the treasure in earthen
vessels, the excellency of powder is of God and not of man," — when He
teaches us that w^e are servants and not masters, creatures and not crea-
tors, with no grasp of eternity, — it becomes us patiently to wait, to stand
still, and to see the salvation of the Lord.

Now shall we take this word with us down into the year, and dwell
upon it continuously in all our endurances ? Christian thinkers.
Christian workers, Christian sufferers, shall we take it into the
family, and into commerce, and into politics, and into all the
relations of life? Remember, that where there is a contest between
right and wrong, virtue and vice. Heaven and hell, nobleness and
ignobleness, generosity and meanness, " The battle is is not ours, but
God's." It is God's fight and it will be God's victory. Resting upon
great principles like these, delivering ourselves from the ignominious
captivity of little details and petty laws, let us rest in the Lord and
wait patiently for Him !

22

The City Temple

A HOMILETIC ANALYSIS

OF THE

CHAPTER I.

1 6 Now as he walked by the sea of Galilee,
he saw Simon and Andrew his brother casting
a net into the sea : for they were fishers.

17 And Jesus said unto them, Come ye
after me, and I will make you to become
fishers of men.

18 And straightway they forsook their
nets, and followed him.

19 And when he had gone a little farther
thence, he saw James the son of Zebedee, and
John his brother, who also were in the ship
mending their nets.

20 And straightway he called them : and
they left their father Zebedee in the ship with
the hired servants, and went after him.

( I ) Christ is the preparer of his
servants, — " I will make you," how
much was involved in that promise !
(a) Authority ; (b) Qualification.
(2) Small beginnings compatible
with sublime results. (3) The
claims of God over-ride all other
claims, — the sons left their father.
(4) The discharge of common duties
the best preparation for higher calls
— two were casting the net into the
sea, and two .were mending their
nets. The transition from one duty
to another need not be abrupt.
The humblest duty may be very
near the highest honour. (5) The
place of the servant is after the
Master — " come ye after me ": they
are not invited to equal terms, —
they must walk in the King's
shadow.

Some hearts respond to Christ
instantly, — some linger long, and
yield as it Vv'ere with reluctance.

" They left their father Zebedee

in the ship ": Fathers should never
keep back their sons from Christ's
service.

21 And they went into Capernaum ; and
straightway on the sabbath day he entered into
the synagogue, and taught.

22 And they were astonished at his doctrine :
for he taught them as one that had authorityj
and not as the scribes.

(i) Men will teach well only
as they teach under Christ. (2)
Authority is impossible apart from
association with the. Master. (3)
Authority of tone must come from
intensity of conviction. (4) Hearers
know the voice of authority.
(5) The Christian teacher is to
shew his supremacy over all other
teachers.

Z3 And there was in their synagogue a man
with an unlean spirit ; and he cried out,

24 Saying, Let us alone ; what have we to
do with thee, thou Jesus of Nazareth ? art thou
come to destroy us ? I know thee who thou
art, the Holy One of God.

25 And Jesus rebuked him, saying, Hold
thy peace, and come out of him.

26 And when the unclean spirit had torn
him, and cried with a loud voice, he came out
of him.

27 And they were all amazed, insomuch
that they questioned among themselves, saying.
What thing is this ? what new doctrine is this ?
for with authority commandcth he even the
unclean spirits, and they do obey him.

28 And immediately his fame spread abroad
throughout all the region round about Galilee.

(i) Wickedness always afraid of
purity. (2) Wickedness having no
favour to ask of purity, except to

A Homiletic Analysis

^3

be let alone. (3) Wickedness can
always identify the presence of the
spirit of Jesus Christ. (4) For this
reason, the church is a constant
judgment upon all unclean spirits.

(5) The completeness \)i Jesus
Christ's authority — ^His authority in
doctrine, and His authority in work,

(6) Fulness of spiritual life is the
guarantee of fulness of spiritual
power. Jesus Christ came to this
work after the most complete and
severe preparation. He had re-
ceived the Holy Ghost; He had
undergone special and long con-
tinued temptation in the wilderness :
and had returned to preach the
gospel of the kingdom of God ; and
after all this, He encountered with
perfect power, the unclean spirits
that were in men. This opens the
whole subject oi Spiritual Prepara-
tion. Christians have also to meet
unclean spirits in society. Vv'hat if
these unclean spirits should baffle
the imperfect strength of Jesus
Christ's followers ? Christians are
not at liberty to let unclean spirits
alone ; they are called to a life -long
contention; their preparation must
be intensely and increasingly
spiritual, {t) That is the highest
fame which is associated with i^ene-
ficient deeds. Jesus Christ became

famous, because He had destroyed
the dominion of a wicked spirit. The
fame of evil is infamous ; the fame
of selfish cunning is mere notoriety ;
the fame of good doing is immortal
and blessed renown.

This paragraph may be used as
the basis of a discourse upon First
Efforts in Christian service. (i)
Those efforts are often forced upon
Christians, — it was so in this case ;
the wicked spirit challenged the
attention of Christ. (2) Christians
are to seek opportunities of putting
forth such efforts ; they are not to

7oait for the challenge, they have
also to give it.

29 And forthwith, when they were come
out of the synagogue, they entered into the
house of Simon and Andrew, with James and
John.

30 But Simon's wife's mother lay sick of a
fever, and anon they tell him of her.

3 1 And he came and took her by the hand
and lifted her up ; and immediately the fever
left her, and she ministered unto them.

Jesus Christ had both a public
and a private ministry ; he worked
in the synagogue, he worked also
in the domestic circle. Here we
find Simon's wife's mother sick of
the fever and instantly Jesus Christ
addressed himself to the difficulty,
showing that the Christian ministry
may be exercised with great advant-
age alike in public and in private.
Let us learn from it. (i) That the
individual case as well as the case
of the multittide should be regarded
as worthy of attention. (2) That
bodily diseases as well as spiritual
ailments are within the sphere of
our solicitude ; we are to be phil-
anthropic as well as spiritually
minded. (3) We are to put our-
selves in personal contact with
those who suffer. " Jesus took her
by the hand and lifted her up."
We can do little by proxy. We
must work with our own hand as
though everything depended on it.
It is true that what is distinctly
known as miraculous power has
ceased in the Church, yet there is a
higher power than that which works
physical miracles. It is still possible
for the entrance of a good man into
any house to be as the coming in of
the light and hfe of heaven. Christ-
ians have it in their power to do a
great work in the sick chamber.
The raising of the man towards
heaven is a greater work than heal-
ing him of mere bodily disease. We
should never leave a home without
blessing it. When Jesus Christ

24

The City Temple

entered into a house it was known
that he was there ; His were not
mere visits of courtesy, or attention
to the claims of routine, wherever
He went He took with him healing
and manifold spiritual blessings.
We are to do the same thing accord-
ing to our capacity. In this case
we see the servants standing behind
the Master; Simon and Andrew
and James and John were all there
but Jesus alone did the work ; In
our case, if we are the public figures
in any work of mercy it is only
because our Master is concealed
from the common vision. He is still
there, still first, and it is only as we
realize His presence and position
that we can bless men.

The immcdiateness of Christ's
cures ought to have some moral
suggestion in it. Simon's wife's
mother did not gradually recover
from her affliction ; she was cured
instantly, and showed the extent of
her recovery by immediately
ministering to those who were in
her house. In the spiritual world,
why should not Jesus Christ heal
men as suddenly as in the physical
world } When men are spiritually
healed, how long should they be
before they make an attempt to
serve others ? It is quite true that
there may be precipitancy in this
matter of spiritual ministry, at the
same time it should be remembered
that every healed soul should prove
its life by seeking to do some good
thing for those who are round about.
Here, as everywhere, the law holds
good, — By their fruits ye shall know
them, Jesus Christ did not require
that any body of men should
examine the case to which he had
just devoted himself, in order to
procure a testimonial of efiiciency \
the service which the healed sufferer
rendered was, itself, testimonial
enough. We know that men have

been with Christ, when they are
doing Christ's work ; all other signs
are inadequate : this is the absolute
standard.

32 And at even, when the sun did set, they
brought unto him all that were diseased, and
them that were possessed with devils.

3 3 . And all the city was gathered together
at the door.

34 And he healed many that were sick of
divers diseases, and cast out many devils ; and
suffered not the devils to speak, because they
knew him.

The natural sun set, but the Sun
of Righteousness arose upon all
those people with healing in His
wings. In the evening, as well as
in the morning, Jesus Christ was at
work. Men come to Jesus Christ
according to the urgency of their
want. These people felt that
urgency in their physical nature,
rather than in their souls, conse-
c^uently they approached Christ
with a request that they might be
healed. It is well if men can feel
their want of Christ at any point.
If men did but know it, they would
find in their hunger and thirst, in
their suffering and loss, gi'ound of
appeal to Jesus Christ. It is not
easy to work from the highest point
of nature : men may not be
conscious of great spiritual neces-
sities, yet may feel wants of a
lower kind : they begin with the
lower and ascend to the higher;
they who eat of the loaves and
fishes, should not leave Christ until
they have eaten of the bread from
Heaven.

The City Temple.

REVISED TRANSLATION OF THE BIBLE.

E have no fear whatever of the results of a revision that shall be
conducted by competent scholars. If we may venture a word
of caution, we should address it impartially to revisionists and
non-revisionists. We cannot but think that some revisionists
endeavour to make out too strong a case. Some time ago we listened
to a discussion which was calculated to suggest the gravest doubts
whether after all we have a Bible that can be relied upon as a divine
revelation : from the descriptions which were given of the state of the
original text, and the sharp criticisms which were made upon the in-
exactness and disorder of some portions of the English version, we were
led to infer that the less that is said about the inspiration and infalli-
bility of the Bible the better. We do not exaggerate the case of some
revisionists in putting it thus strongly, but we are decidedly of opinion
that they themselves commit an exaggeration which will do much injury
to their own cause. Let it be frankly admitted that in many passages
verbal alterations of great critical value might be made ; let it also be
admitted that some portions of the prophetic writings could be arranged
much more perspicuously, especially so as to show more clearly their
chronological and historical order and culmination ; and still further let
it be admitted that here and there it may be necessary to remove
passages which can be proved to be spurious. And after all these ad-
missions, the foremost scholars will be prepared to contend that the
Bible is the inspired and infallible Word of God. We venture to think
that they should, perhaps, more boldly take their stand upon this doc-
trine, and proceed to the question of revision as one which cannot
impair the integrity and sufficiency of the divine revelation. The very
fact that they urge a revision of our translation is proof enough of their
confidence in the authority of the holy word, and so it will be under-
stood by all thoughtful men ; at the same time, when the question is
argued in the hearing of persons who are but imperfectly instructed in
such subjects, and especially in the hearing of men who are only too

26 Revised Translation? of the Bible

ready to turn any weapon against the Bible, it is of supreme importance
that from beginning to end there should be a clear and bold stand
made for the substantial accuracy and imperative authority of the Holy
Scriptures as they are now accessible to English readers. Our brethren
who plead for the revision of the English version will not suppose that
we are attacking their orthodoxy in suggesting that before miscellaneous
audiences they should give the subject of revision quite a subordinate
place ; they need not shirk it, nor need they affect to undervalue it ;
they should simply guard themselves against the foolish inference which
the unlearned and giddy will persist in drawing, viz., that considing the
chaotic state of the translation it will be prudent to wait until the new
Bible is ready. Undoubtedly this is a foolish (we are tempted to say
insane) inference, as viewed from the standpoint of learned and devout
revisionists, but those gentlemen who have enjoyed the advantage of
prolonged and severe mental discipline must make some allowance for
hearers who are unaccustomed to judicial criticism. Give the world at
large to understand that perhaps twenty thousand emendations can be
made in the English version, that several passages have no title to a
place in the sacred canon, and that the prophecies are in a state of
well-nigh hopeless confusion, and the probability is that multitudes of
ill-instructed men will turn such admissions into occasions of disregard-
ing or despising the Word of God. This possible mischief is easily
avoidable. Assert the sufficiency of the English version for all the main
purposes of a revelation, viz., to show the way of salvation and regulate
the whole conduct of life, — be clear, strong and most decided on this
point, and then proceed to questions which can be understood only by
scholars.

We would remind anti-revisionists of a fact which they appear to
overlook, the fact that no translation is inspired. By their fear to sub-
mit the English version to criticism they inflict injury on the cause they
would gladly serve. Scholarship is the servant of truth. If any passages
can be improved in form or expression, we should be prepared to de-
mand that the improvement be effected with all possible promptitude.
Error should have no place in Christian teaching : at all costs of tradi-
tion and sentiment it must go ! Most earnestly would we discourage
the policy of fear, as uncalled-for and certainly most unworthy of
Christian men. Let criticism be invited, and even challenged if need
be, for truth is higher than the inadequate forms in which it has often
been enshrined. We have a strong conviction that when scholars have
brought under one view all the instances in which re-translation could
be adopted with advantage, the number will be less than is now gener-
ally supposed, and certainly the substantial improvements will not add
much to the yalue of the Bible as it appears in the present English ver-
sion. Marginal emendations and suggestions we should welcome with
cordial gratitude, but we have no sanguine expectations as to the worth
of a complete revision of the translation. One thing we should ear-
nestly deprecate, — the modernising of many old English phrases :
equivalent meanings won't satisfy us ; we must have the old wine in, the
old vessels. This may be very sentimental, yet the heart demands it
and the mind will be content with nothing less.

REPORT OF A DISCOURSE DELIVERED BY

JOSEPH PARKER,

In Poultry Chapel , on Thursday Morning, January 12, 187
(the sixty-second noonday service.)

SPIRITUAL DISCERNMENT.

" The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God, for
they are fooHshness unto him." — i Corinthians, ii., 14.

WISH to show, by analogies and illustrations known to every-
body, the reasonableness of the doctrine which is thus laid
down by the apostle Paul. There is nothing here which is
not commonly acknowledged and insisted on in the every-
day walks of life. To show this may be a great help to some minds ;
to those, for example, who suppose that where there is no religion there
is no mystery, and consequently, that if we could get clear of religion
we should get clear of all mystery. I believe that the true interpreter
of God (whenever he shall arise) will be able to show that what is
distinctively known as Christian religion is only more mysterious be-
cause it is more sublime than any other part of the economy of life and
nature. The one great mystery is God himself All other mysteries
are as shadows thrown by that burning light. Interpretation — the
power of seeing things as they are — is not a question of culture so much
as of sympathy and insight. Sympathy and insight cannot be taught in
schools. The highest gifts cannot be given to men through the medium
of books ; so unless a man have the hearing ear and seeing eye as the
direct gifts of God, he never can be taught to be a profound and sure
interpreter. Right answers to hard questions have never been suggested
by flesh and blood ; they have always been given to the Peters of the
world by the Father which is in Heaven. God gives us the spirit of
discernment, the power of seeing spiritual realities and relations. It is
not a natural endowment common to the whole human species : it is a
distinct and special gift of God. " Now we have received not the spirit

28 The City Temple

of the world but the spirit which is of God, that we might know the
things that are freely given to us of God. God hath revealed them
unto us by His spirit, for the spirit searchcth all things, yea, the deep
things of God." And yet it has strangely come to pass in the study of
religious problems, that some men have asserted the sufficiency of un-
aided reason. Strange, because the very men have in less important
enquiries gladly availed themselves of all the instruments, mediums, and
helps which inventive genius has supplied. I wish to show the incon-
sistency of the reasoning of such men. I wish to show that they leave
their common sense behind them when they enter into the considera-
tion of the elements which constitute profoundly true and successful
religious enquiry.

Here, for example, is a large brilliant diamond. You look
at the stone, and it pleases you by its wondrous whiteness and
lustre. You admire it, you praise it very highly. You say, " This
stone is without f;mlt of any kind — a most beautiful and precious gem."
The lapidary places in your hand a magnifying glass of great power,
and bids you look at the centre of the stone. You look. The lapidary
enquires what you see, and you reply, " Why, there is a black spot at
its very centre ! I did not see that without the glass. To the naked
eye the stone looked perfectly white — entirely without flaw or fault ;
and yet now that I look at the stone through the glass, why I wonder
that I could not have seen so great a speck as that ! " The lapidary
says the naked eye cannot receive it, neither can it know it, because it
is microscopically discerned. And nobody arises to contest the reason-
ing of the lapidary : no man ventures to say to him, " Sir, you have in-
troduced a most painful mystery into human thought and human
inquiry." Such people are rather glad that a medium has been supplied
by which the most hidden fault can be brought to light.

Yonder are two shining surfaces. You look at both of them and
pronounce them intensely brilliant. You say, " There must be great
fire there, otherwise such a glowing surface could not have presented
itself." A scientific man who overhears you says, " One of those sur-
faces is not light at all — has not light in itself" And you, a
man of independent judgment, a free-thinker and noble-minded en-
quirer, turn round upon him and tell him, circuitously but yet virtually,
that he's a fool : can't you believe your own eyes ? what were your eyes
given to you for if you could not see such evident realities as this before
you ? And you treat the scientific man with contempt and disdain.
" Now," he says, " just look through this instrument, will you ?" and
he brings to you the polariscope, teaches you the use of that instrument,
and when you have looked according to his directions, you turn to him
and beg his pardon for having so rudely contradicted him, you say
that you never could have supposed that the thing was as it has really
been proved to be ; you could not have seen that the one surface was
primary light and the other was but reflected light, until you looked at
both surfaces through the crystals of the polariscope. And now
the scientific man says to you, " The naked eye cannot receive it,
neither know it, because it is polariscopically discerned." You thank
him as a philosopher, you are obliged to him as a discoverer,

spiritual Discernment 29

And yonder are two men Avho have undertaken a mineral survey.
It has been supposed by some people that there is iron in the field
which these men are now traversing. One of the men is a mineralogist,
a man of science, who knows the limitations of his condition, and who
consequently avails himself of instruments which science has supplied.
The other is a grand man, who believes that if he cannot find things
out with his naked eyes and his naked fingers, that nothing can be
found out or shall be found out. Not at all a bigot, you observe. A
man of latitudinarian spirit, of all-encompassing and all hopeful charity ;
belongs to no sect, to no flag, to no banner, with no passwords, and
does not believe in anything that is dogmatic or defined. He goes over
the field, does this latter man — he soon goes over it. Men of that kind
have nothing to arrest them on their way ; it is a pity they were not
winged, that they might get away sooner. Having gone over the
field, he says, " There is no iron there ! " But the scientific man is
walking slowly over the ground, holding in his hand a little box, a Httle
crystal box, walking slowly, watching the instrument that is enclosed in
that box. Presently the needle dips. The man stops there, and says,
" In this place there is iron ! " Can you see it ? No. Can you touch
it ? No. But in this place he repeats, " I tell you there is iron ! "
He walks on again. The needle is perfectly steady : yard after yard
the needle is perfectly steady and still, but suddenly the needle dips.
As the finger of God it points out to men the riches of the earth. The
other man has gone home to tell everybody that there is no iron in that
field, and, of course, being an independent free-minded experienced man,
he is instantly believed by everyone. The other man says, " There is
iron in that field, and in my judgment it will repay digging for."
The scientific man then digs for iron and finds it, and then turns round
to hear what men have to say about him and his discoveries. He
says, "The naked eye, the unassisted faculty, cannot receive it, neither
know it, for it is magnetically discerned." We then say that he is very
clever, and tardily yield him the confidence which he has so richly
deserved.

Look at this ruddy-faced boy. You can't walk out with this boy
forty yards but he challenges you to leap a five-barred gate, or to have a
game at throwing stones at something, or leaping over ditches about twelve
feet wide ; and you, not being so boyish as he is, respectfully decline
the challenge, but you say, " What a vigorous lad that is ! what power,
what spring he has ! There will be a long life there and a happy one."
A scientific man comes to your house : you talk physiology. The
scientific man proposes to examine this ruddy-faced boy, your com-
panion in the field. He applies an instrument to the region of the
heart, and suddenly there is a changed expression of countenance on
the part of the physician. Turning aside to you he says, " This boy
will never see five-and-twenty. Has he had rheumatic fever? There is
valvular affection of the heart, and before he is flve-and-twenty I am
afraid he will be gone." Of course you disbelieve it. You saw the boy
in the field vaulting a gate, leaping a ditch, throwing stones many a
yard, and you can't disbelieve your eyes — that would be unmanly and
unworthy of the independence of manhood. The doctor says, "Apply
c 2

30 The City Temple

your ear to this instrument and listen for yourself." You do so, and
hear an irregularity and peculiarity of beat, which you, not being a
medical man, cannot understand, and yet you know that there is a dis-
crepancy in the pulsations. The physician says to you, " The untrained
uneducated ear cannot receive this, neither know it, because it is
stelhoscopically discerned." And you tardily, as in the former case,
give your confidence to the adviser, and beseech him to lend you his
aid under circumstances so unexpected and distressing.

Here is a piece of paper, and you hand it round to your friends, to
every man amongst them, and they say, " Whatever have you handed
this blank piece of paper round for ? are you playing a hoax upon us ?
There is nothing upon this piece of paper. Have we to write some-
thing upon it ? " And you take it back and say, " Is there really
nothing upon the paper ? " and every voice says " No ! can't we believe
our own eyes ? We are unanimously of opinion that there is nothing
upon it." You just hold it to the fire for the space of a minute or two,
and lo, it is written all over ! You have developed the secret ink.

Now, in all these things, my brethren, we confess our need of in-
struments. The unassisted faculties of nature are not enough. We
must be indebted to mediums. Imagine a man who disbelieves every-
thing he cannot see with the naked eye. Suppose that it came to pass
to-morrow that everything shall be taken away which cannot be read by
the naked eye, or that has not been discovered by the naked eye. What
will come ? Shut up the heavens, for astronomy must go ; and cover
over the fields, for botany tells but little to the naked eye. All science,
indeed, would be impoverished, insulted, degraded. Yet the man who
cannot read his own mother's letter without an eye-glass, insists upon read-
ing the infinite and eternal God by his own unassisted powers, — declare
that if he cannot settle this great question by natural reason, that there
is nothing at all worth being settled, — says, that whatsoever is too
mysterious for his natural understanding is but worthy of insult, degra-
dation and contempt. I charge him, in God's house and before God's
face, with insulting his own common-sense and contradicting the highest
experiences of mankind.

The same principle may be illustrated in spheres where instruments
are not required. Here are two men listening to the same piece of music.
The one man is inspired, enraptured, thrilled, and says mentally, "I would
this might go on for ever ! The sweetness, the purity of that wondrous
tone, let it never cease ! I would abide here constantly." The other man is
saying mentally, "I wonder when they'll be done? it seems a long
time ! " He looks at the programme with weary eyes, and mentally
resolves that will be the last occasion of the kind whenever he will be
there. The best ear can't receive these things or know them, for they
are musically discerned. There are that have ears that cannot hear and
eyes that cannot see. The one man (the musical man) would be pained,
really tormented, if one note were the thousandth part of a shade wrong,
he would feel it intensely, it would go right through him like a spear.
But all the notes might be wrong so far as the other man knew. If there
was only noise enough, he would think it was not so very bad after all.

spiritual Discernment 31

Here are tAvo men looking at the same picture. The one man is
chained to the spot : it is to him an enigma, a mystery, a wonder, and
a deUght ; he has never seen such combinations before ; he was never
before thrilled under such wondrous effects. A man behind him with a
thick shilling catalogue says that he does not see very much in that, and
hastens on to something that has got superficies, no matter what the
superficies may be : only let it be extensive enough. Paint for such
men with a broom !

Now, my brethren, the application of all these instances is to the
things of God as accessible to the spirit of man. The thing s of God
are not naturally discerned. " If our gospel be hid, it is hid to them
that are lost, in whom the God of this world hath blinded the minds of
them which believe not." There are blind minds as well as blind eyes.
*' Except a man be born again he cannot see the kingdom of God."
This is perfectly reasonable. If a man contends that mystery
begins with the Bible, he knows not the world he is living
in or the elements by which he is surrounded. In the light of
these reflections we may see the adaptation of the method of the gospel
to our human condition. What has God done in the matter of revela-
tion ? God has condescended to have a book written for us ; — a tremen-
dous risk, for God to accept the inconvenience of writing and print-
ing his revelation. It might have been purely intellectual, purely spiritual
without objectivity, and yet he has condescended to have something
written for us. Just as you condescended, when you were a long way
from home, to sit up one whole hour to print about six lines in large
hand for that Uttle child of yours at home. And you were never so much
a man as when you were so much a child. God comes to us know-
ing the dumbness and blindness of his creatures, and sets everything
before us He possibly can set, — to appeal, in the first instance, to
our lowest faculties, and then brings us on from that point until
sanctuaries are no more wanted, printed Bibles are no more wanted,
sun and moon are dismissed from their spheres, institutionalism goes
down in spirituality — the Lamb is the light and God is the temple ! We
may see, also, the reasonableness of divine dependence in reading the
gospel. There are many things, as we have just shown, which cannot
be read without instruments and mediums. God comes and says to
us, " I have something to say to you which you never could hear by
your own unaided faculties ; but I will give you the faculty, I will give
you the capacity to receive, and that capacity to its utmost limits."
1 say this is not a mystery that is opposed to reason, though it may be
a mystery which is above reason. We also see in the light of these illus-
trations the sublimity of the truths announced by the gospel. Instru-
ments will read the works, but instmments cannot read the word.
Only God can reveal Himself. What man knoweth the things of man
save the spirit of man that is in him — even so mark the connecting link —
the things of God knoweth no man, but the spirit of God. It is thus
put upon reasonable grounds. As with men so with God. You cannot
read the things that are in your brother's mind : no man can read the
things that are in your mind, you alone can reveal them. The apostle

32 The City Temple

carries up the argument until he shows its bearing upon the infiniteness,
the depth, the wonderfulness, the whole Godhead of God.

As ministers, we are not to be discouraged and drivenback in ourgodly
work, because some people cannot understand us, and others say we are
trifling with their reason or insulting their common sense. Take it as a
matter of fact, my young brethren who are preparing for this work, there
will always be men in the world to whom your best preaching will be
foolishness ; simply because they have not the spiritual faculty of taking
hold of what you are saying. Now do we wish to have this discernment ?
" If men being evil, know how to give good gifts to their children, how
much more shall your Father which is in Heaven, give the Holy Spirit
to them that ask him." " If any man lack wisdom, let him ask of God, who
giveth unto all men liberally and upbraideth not." Don't expect to see all
things at once — the whole breadth and lustre of the Godhead at once —
begin at a little point. In the first place, you may in spiritual things as
in material, see men as trees walking, dim outlines, flitting shadows ; but
don't despise the twilight ! If we already have this discernment, then surely
to him that hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance. Inspira-
tion is not a fixed quantity, it is a variable quantity, — we may in
crease the volume of our inspiration by diligently, lovingly and patiently
waiting upon God. " To this man will I look, to him who is a broken
and contrite heart, and who trembleth at my word." " Out of the
mouths of babes and sucklings will God ordain praise." The first
shall be last, and last shall be first. And by things that are not, will
God secure great results in the world.

Don't let us therefore loose our present insight, our present power
of interpretation, our present power of discernment and appreciation.
Let us grow. We can only grow by prolonged intercourse with God.
He who gives his days to study and his nights to prayer shall see Heaven
opened, and his whole life shall be a Jacob's dream : he will never, never
miss that wonderful ladder which connects the worlds : that marvellous
staircase of light up which the angels go, and in going bid us follow on.
It doth not yet appear what we shall be. Thy home is with the humble,
Lord ! Have we a right spirit ? God will not say anything to people
who are boastful of their own wisdom, and who glorify themselves in the
light of their own reason, — but he is never done talking to the child-
heart that says in the dark midnight and the bright noonday, " Speak,
Lord, for thy servant heareth."

The City Temple

22

A HOMILETIC ANALYSIS

OF THE

©fospel ftg MmK

CHAPTER I.

We are not to consider all this
pressure upon Jesus Christ as an
illustration of mere selfishness on
the part of the sufferers and their
friends. That would entirely de-
pend upon their spirit ; in the act
of their coming to Christ, there was
nothing necessarily selfish. Men
may come to Christ for spiritual
advantages, and yet may charge
themselves with selfish motives ; at
all events the devil will not be
slow to suggest that in coming to
Christ for salvation, men merely
act upon a selfish instinct. Such
an unclean spirit is to be resisted,
and to bring down upon itself the
admonition of holy anger. The
selfishness will be seen afterwards,
if it really exist : to go to Christ
that we should be healed ourselves
and then to say nothing about His
gracious power to others is to ex-
hibit the intensest selfishness ; but
to go ourselves, and then make our
• own healing a testimony in his
favour is to preach the gospel, is to
approach the benevolence of God
himself

By so much then may men test
their own spirit ; if they are con-
tent to enjoy what they term spiri-
tual advantages without publishing
the Saviour to others, they are
justly chargeable with most crimi-
nal selfishness. Gratitude will al-
ways make eloquent preachers.

The fact that Jesus Christ did not
suffer the devils to speak shows
His perfect dominion over the spirit-

ual region. All devils are weak in
the presence of the Saviour. They
are mighty and terrible to us because
of our many infirmities, but in the
presence of the bold man who is
clothed with perfect holiness all
devils are infinitely weak. The
lesson is evident : we are mighty
only as we are in Christ.

35 And in the morning, rising up a great
while before day, he went out and departed into
a solitary place, and there prayed.

There is something very touch-
ingly illustrative of our Saviour's
humanity in this verse : he could have
prayed upon his couch ; none might
have known how close was his inter-
course with God as he continued in
the house ; yet as he worked after
the sun was set so he departed to
pray before the sun had risen ! If
the master required to pray, can the
servants live without communion
with God? The subject suggested
by this verse may be called Mor?i-
ing Devotion. To begin the day with
God is the only method of setting
one's-self above all its events and
triumphing over them with perfect
mastery. Our life will be poor if
there be in it no solitary places
where we pray. True life can never
be developed among throngs and
noises ; we must betake ourselves
into desert places ; in a word we
must get away from men and view
life from such distance as may be
realized by intimate divine fellow-
ship. As it is necessary to stand
back from his work in order that the

34

The City Temple

artist may see how it is shaping it-
self, so it is often necessary for us
who are doing Christ's work to retire
into soUtary places that we may look
at it from the altar of worship or per-
haps from the valley of humiliation.
How rapidily Christ lived ! how he
consumed himself in his ministry !
this should be an appeal to Christ-
ians calling them to enthusiasm and
to vehemence in work. Jesus Christ
did not remain in solitary places,
he went to the sacred fountain that
he might prepare himself to return
to society and do the work of the
common day. A discourse might
be founded upon these words show-
ing the Relis;ious uses of Time, (i)
There would be social service such
as we have seen in the life of Christ.
(2) There would be public ministry
in which crowds might enjoy our
Christian teaching ; (3) There would
be sacred devotion in which the soul
will hold close intercourse with God.
These uses should not be separated
one from the other, the teacher
should show that all these uses really
make up one true ministry. The
incident may also be used to show
the place of prayer in the earnest
hfe. There is a sentimentalism which
says work is prayer, so it is, and yet
if we work without praying our
work will be powerless. Work is
only prayer in so far as it is done in
d. prayerful s^vcit. He who works
must pray and he who truly prays
must also work. In this verse the nar-
rator uses a summary expression ;
he could only say that Jesus Christ
prayed, what he says in his prayer,
what entreaties he breathed on be
half of himself and his work, never
can be known. There are also
passages in our own life which can
never be written ; we ourselves have
offered prayers which it is impos-
sible to recal so intense was their
agony, so comprehensive their de-

sire ; yet though unable to recal the
intercession in detail yetare strong in
the memory that they were offered :
the individual petitions have been
forgotten, but the great exercise has
strengthened, and the great answer
nourished, the soul.

36 And Simon and they that were with
him followed after him.

37 And when they had found him, they
said unto him, All men seek for thee.

3 8 And he said unto them, Let us go into
the next towns, that I may preach there also :
for therefore came I forth.

39 And he preached in their synagogues
throughout all Galilee, and cast out devils.

The true disciple always knows
where to find the Master: the dis-
ciples knew the habits of their
Lord : they knew that in some
hidden place he could be found in
the early hours of the day ; at all
events they knew that Jesus Christ
would be found in the path of use-
fulness or preparation for useful-
ness. Do men know where they
can find us? Are our Christian
habits so distinct and unchangeable
that our friends can with certainty
explain our position ? The picture
in the 37 th verse is most impressive,
viz., namely, the picture of all men
seeking for Jesus. What the dis-
ciples said in their wondering de-
light, shall one day be literally '
true — all men will be in search of
the Saviour of the world. In the
first instance the Saviour sought all
men, and in the second all men
will seek the Saviour. '' We love
him because he first loved us." In-
stant response to the desire of the (
world as shown in Christ's readi-
ness still further to preach the
gospel. His object in life was
undivided and its unity was its
omnipotence. We are only strong
in proportion to the concentration
of our powers. Wherever we are
we ought to be within the sphere
of our ministry ; and it ought to

A Homiletic Analysis

35

be an easy transition from one de-
partment of duty to another, Jesus
Christ knew wherefore he had come
forth, and it is incumbent upon us
that we too should know our mis-
sion in Hfe. No man can work
mightily and constantly except in
so far as he has a distinct and
worthy object before him ; the ob-
ject must stir his whole nature and
move him by an importunate com-
pulsion amounting in fact to inspi-
ration. When a man begins to
question the utility or practicability
of his object in life he enfeebles
himself. There are many qestion-
able objects which men set before
themselves, and it is our delight as
Christian observers to mark how
they break down, and how those
who were pursuing them abandon
them Avith sorrow and disgust. We
have to set before all men an ob-

ject sufficiently simple to engage
the aftections of the feeblest and
sufficiently sublime to absorb the
energies of the strongest. Jesus
Christ preached, and he called his
servants to the same work. Preach-
ing can never fail to be one of the
mightiest instruments in stirring the
human mind, and in moulding
human society. Individual preach-
ers may become feeble ; even dis-
tinguished ministers may cool in
the enthusiasm with which they
undertook their great Avork ; but
preaching, as instituted by Jesus
Christ and exemplified in his own
ministry, can never cease to be one
of the most effective agencies in
human education and progress.
Preaching will be powerless ex-
cept in proportion as it relates
to Christ.

'wmmmm

BROKEN COLUMNS.

Under this heading we shall occasionally give Outlines of Sermons.

Cain and Abel : Three Experi-
ments and Three Failures.

Genesis, iv., 2, &c.
I. The Family idea won't keep
men right. Cain and Abel were
brothers. II. Religious ceremo-
nial won't keep right. Cain and
Abel both offered sacrifice. III.
Religious persecution won't keep
men right. Cain killed his brother,
but a voice cried against him.
What will keep men right ? The
love of God through Jesus Christ
our Lord.

Enoch : Accounting for men's
disappearance fro7n the earth.

"God took him." — Gen., v., 24.

I. We should take an interest in
the destiny of men. II. We should
recognise the hand of God in the
removal of men. III. We should
believe in the particularity of God's
oversight of men.

When God takes a good man —
(i) He takes that man to a higher
blessing ; (2) He will fill that man's
place as a Christian worker upon
earth; (3) He trains survivors to-

36

The City Temple

wards self-reliance and emulous
work.

Or the subject may be treated
thus —

(i) God took him, — the assertion
of a sovereign right.

(2) God took him, — an illustra-
tion of divine regard.

(3) God took him, — an assurance
of eternal blessedness.

(4) God took him, — a pledge that
all like him will be associated.

Good Netus for Bad Men.

" This man receiveth sinners and eateth
with them." — Luke, xv., 2.

(a) This is a true charge ; (b)
This is a true charge brought by
men who did not intend it to
be true in its deepest import ; (c)
This charge was the very charm
and glory of Christ's life, — so much
for the impotence of the wrath of
man !

" This man receiveth sinners," —
then —

. (i) He is DIFFERENT from all
other men. More generous., more
hopeful., more independent.

(2) He is SUPERIOR to all other
men. Other men would have been
contaminated: other men would
have been overwhehned hy numbers:
other men would have feared un-
popularity.

(3) He is the hope of all other
men. As men come to know them-
selves to be sinners, they will want
a friend.

" And eateth with them," — then
(i) He is /m?nan ; (2) He is
gracious ; (3) He is approachable.

Application : Jesus Christ eats
our common bread, and we must
eat him as the bread which cometh
down from heaven. Jesus Christ
turns our common engagements into
religious worship. Jesus Christ

never eats our bread without increas-
ing and blessing it.

The Gospel a light.

" His marvellous light." — i Peter, ii., 9.

The gospel constantly claims all
that is figurative in the light of the
sun and moon and stars as signifi-
cant of its own nature and mission.
In the gospel as in God himself there
is no darkness at all. Not only is
the gospel described as light but as
marvellous light : not a dim twilight,
but a blaze of glory, a splendour
before which all other splendour
wanes. Why is this a ?narvellous
light ?

I. Because it is a light upon
SPIRITUAL REALITIES. The sun Can
light up landscapes, kingdoms, and
worlds, but where is the light which
can reveal man to himself and God
to man ? We need another light, —
a light above the brightness of
the sun.

(a) The gospel throws a marvel-
lous light upon sin ; (b) upon the
holiness and awfulness of divine
law ; (c) upon the elements which
are requisite to a perfect reconcilia-
tion to God.

II. Because it is a light upon
SPIRITUAL DESTINIES. Man can
throw no light on his own future.
He can but speculate and hope. The
gospel distinctly deals with the mys-
tery of time to come, (a) Judgment ;
(b) Rewards and Punishments ; (c)
Duration ; (d) Service.

The fact that the gopel claims to
be a marvellous light ; shows —

1. That the world is in a state of
marvellous darhness.

2. That the diffusion of the gos-
pel is a diffusion of light.

3. That all who believe the gos-
pel should walk as children of the
day.

The City Temple.

REPORT OF A DISCOURSE DELIVERED BY

JOSEPH PARKER,

In Poultry Chapel, on Thursday Mornings January 19, 1871.
(the sixty-third noonday service.)

THE INVOCATION.

Almighty and most merciful God, let our waiting before Thee be a season of hallowed joy.
May this hour, taken out of the common week, be to us Sabbatic ; may our strength be
recovered, — may our hope escape fiom every cloud, and clearly see the far-oflF land where all
thy children serve Tiiee without faintness because without sin. Help us to live all our days in
the spirit of Jesus Christ. May we see far beyond the cruelty and the shame of the Cross :
may it be to us the mystery of love, the symbol of grace, the end of sin and the beginning of
Heaven. Everyday may Jesus Christ become dearer to our hearts. May all things be seen
through Him. From his life may we take our law, and to his glory may we consecrate our
redeemed and sanctified powers. Eternal One ! pity and help all who are passing down the
shallow river of Time to the shoreless sea of Thine own Eternity. Amen.

SCATTERING AND WITHHOLDING.

yet increaseth, and
ancl it tendeth to

there is that
poverty." —

" There is that scattereth and
withholdeth more than is meet,
Proverbs, xi., 24.

WO of the principal words in this text are of course scattereth and
withholdeth. We ought to be on our guard against mistaken
definitions and incomplete meanings of such words. We
ought also to be on our guard against short-sightedness and
ill-managed perspective in the consideration of doctrines and the plan-
ning of life. Half a meaning may amount to a falsehood. A wrong
angle of vision may deceive as to distance, magnitude, and proportion.

38 The City Temple

For example : — One would say that to scatter anything is to part
with it without advantage, to loose it ; and that withhold, to keep back,
is undoubtedly to save and to retain. The text teaches us that this may
be quite a mistake on our part. It must further be understood that all
scattering is not advised, nor is all withholding condemned. The
word scatter and the word withhold must therefore be regarded with
modifications. There is reckless scattering and there is wise with-
holding. It will be seen, therefore, that the text is not to be taken in
its literalness ; it is to be examined in its spirit. We must get into
the method of the counsel, and understand the genius and scope of the
doctrine. Happily we have no need to go further in search of illustra-
tion of the truth of the text ; we find it on every farm, in every business,
in every school. The farmer will tell us that if the land be starved the
crop will be starved as well. The merchant will tell us that if he be
not often liberal in his outlay — liberal almost to the point of apparent
recklessness — he will be short in his income. Some crafty persons will
even give subscriptions to societies which they would gladly sink to the
bottom of the sea, because these subscriptions come back to them in
the way of patronage. Their donations are investments. Their charities
are speculations. They turn benevolence itself into merchandise ; they
yoke generosity to the chariot of Mammon. Still they are preachers,
and preachers of wisdom. If they abuse the principle, they exemplify
it by thinking that scattering may mean getting. Their charities, their
gifts, their plaudits, and their liberalities are often so much manure with
which they hope to enrich the harvest of their own fortunes. All
these considerations show us the importance of understanding what
is meant by scattering, and what is meant by withholding. Let us, in
our morning meditation, seek with all eagerness of Christian hope to
know the meaning of both parts of the text, that we may order the
scheme of our life by its profound and most excellent wisdom.

The text calls us to benevolent activity founded on religious faith.
Not to activity only, but to benevolent activity ; not to a benevolent
activity only, but to a benevolent activity founded on a religious basis —
and not a religious basis as the expression of a selfish sentimentality,
but the only true and abiding religious basis, that which we find in the
Cross and in the life of Jesus Christ. The doctrine of the text en-
larges and glorifies life by calling into play elements and considerations
which lie beyond the present and the visible. The very exercise of
scattering carries blessing with it, — brings with it a peculiar and special
benefit. Observe, I say, the very exercise of scattering, without pointing
in a religious or Christian direction, — the very act of scattering breaks up
the mastery of selfishness, it enlarges the circle of kindly interests, it shows
that there is something in the world beyond our own personal concerns.
It were better, therefore, better for man, better as a discipline, better for
his heart, better for every quality that is worth having, that a man
should go to the river so many times a year and throw his money into
it, than that he should never, never give anything away ! Is that a hard
saying ? I believe it is perfectly true, that rather than never part
with anything except in the way of mere bargain-making it were
better to go to the river and to throw some part of oih: property

Scattering and Withholding 39

into it. What, then, of the benefit which accrues upon wise giving,
upon philanthropic service, upon activities which bear the dear
name and are inspired by the blessed spirit of Jesus Christ? Take
a case. A man gives away a sovereign in Christ's name and for
Christ's sake. Look at the elements Avhich constitute that act and give
it value. The man made the sovereign honestly ; it is his, in point of
fair service, by what is called right. If he keeps that sovereign he will
break no law in commerce ; if he will it away to his family, he will
violate no law in social equity ; if he spend it upon himself, society will
not condemn him. Yet the man deliberately gives that sovereign away
to a poor child, to a friendless stranger, to a Christian society. See
what lies behind the deed. The man says, in effect if not in words,
" The money may be mine, but I myself am not my own. How then
can anything be mine, except temporarily, and under laws of steward-
ship and responsibiUty ? I have no property in myself; lam bought
with a price ; I am God's agent. So far as I have given society an
equivalent for this sovereign, it is mine ; but the strength, the skill,
the knowledge by which I gained it are the gifts of God. The image is
Caesar's, but the gold is God's. I will hold what I have as Christ's ;
holding it so, I instantly yield it at his call, saying, — Thine — oh
wounded blessed Christ — thine is the right ! " So this giving away of
the sovereign is not an off-hand deed ; it is not done flippantly ; it
is not done to save appearances ; it is not done from external social
pressure ; it becomes a great religious act, a solemn sacrifice, a holy
thank-offering.

So to give, so to scatter, is to increase. In many cases the man
gets back two sovereigns for one, or fifty for one; but if he did not get
a penny back he always increases in heart-volume, in joy, in love, in
most mysterious and hallowed peace ; the heavens become brighter ;
his cup of comfort is sweetened, he walks on a greener earth, he looks
up to God through a bluer sky. Beneficence is its own compensation.
Charity empties the heart of one gift that it may make room for a
larger. He who lives towards God, whose life is an ascending line,
will meet God coming to him with blessings unimagined and un-
ceasing. ** Give and it shall be given unto you, good measure, pressed
down, shaken together, and running over." " The liberal soul shall
be made fat, and he that watereth others shall be watered also himself"

Some of you are thinking at this moment that it is rather a dan-
gerous doctrine to preach, that if a man give away one sovereign he
may get two, and perhaps he may get fifty back. I quite anticipated
the objection, and I paused a moment to say something in order that I
might recur to it with greater force. Understand, that if any man shall
give God anything in the way of having it back again, that man will be
disappointed, humiliated, and justly so. It is not an investment ; it is
not an appeal to some greedy, crafty wretch who says, " Well, if that be
the way, I shall give away a sovereign just to try if I can get two
sovereigns back for it." Will you ? Try it ! and you will never see
your sovereign again. Then you won't try it ? Don't ! We can't have
the footsteps of such evil beasts upon the floor of God's sanctuary. It
is when we give it away free firom all self-consciousness in the deed,

40 The City Temple

when there is no calculation about it, when under the inspiration of love
we touch the very holiness of God, — it is then that the grain of corn
cast into the earth dies, germinates, fructifies, and returns a hundred-
fold. I bear witness, simply and solemnly, without affectation and with
the emphasis of thankfulness, that I never yet, in any happy moment of
sympathy with the dear Christ of God, did a generous deed without God
hastening, as it were, to repay the deed, to make me a Aviser, stronger,
tenderer man. " Verily I say unto you, whosoever shall give a cup of
cold water to one of these my disciples shall in no wise lose his reward."
No man works for God for nothing. His water is turned into wine,
and that wine flows in unceasing blessed streams of divine love and
comfort.

I know of two men who started business with this vow : — " We
shall give to God one-tenth of all our profits." The first year the profits
were considerable ; the tithe was consequently considerable. The next
year there was increase in the profits and of course increase in the tithe ;
in a few years the profits became very, very large indeed, so that
the partners said to one another, "Is not a tenth of this rather too
much to give away ? suppose we say now we shall give a twentieth ? "
And they gave a twentieth, — and the next year the profits had fallen
down ; the year after that they fell down again, and the men said
to one another as Christians should say in such a case, " Have not
we broken our vow ? Have we not robbed God ? " And in no
spirit of selfish calculation, but with humility of soul, self-reproach
and bitter contrition, they went back to God and told him how
the matter stood, prayed his forgivness, renewed their vow, and
God opened the windows of Heaven and came back to them
and all the old prosperity. I do not wish to make too much of
this story, but I know it as a fact. There is no occasion to fear
superstition in making such vows. If they be made in the spirit of self-
ishness, they will end in nothing ; if in the spirit of little children, no
man can tell the blessing.

The other side of the text is as emphatic and as often illustrated in
practical life as the first : "There is that withholdeth more than is meet, but
it tendeth to poverty." Selfishness is suicidal ; selfishness lives in gloom ;
selfishness injects poison into every stream of life ; selfishness actually
makes the world less and less every day, degrades man, dishonours life ;
it is blasphemy against the infinite goodness and mercy of God ! Selfish-
ness is most intensely selfish when it assumes the name of prudence.
When a man says he must be just before he is generous, that man cannot
be just, that man is a thief in his heart. Selfishness is often most base
when it calculates aloud at the dinner table and the tea table arithmeti-
cally, and shows the world the whole process of its dry arithmetic.
Souls cannot be trained on arithmetic. When selfishness chatters
proverbs, which are but half truths, — when in the interests of so-
called honesty it robs God with both hands, then it has reached a
depth beyond which there is no depth. Let it be known that upon such
God has branded the stamp of failure. God is against thee,
oh selfish heart ! There may be great accumulation, may there not ?
Yes, — yet not one moment's enjoyment of it all ! There may be good

Scattering and Withholding 41

standing at the bankers, may there not ? Yes, and no foothold in any
human heart. The property may outweigh the proprietor. As the stuff
increases, the man diminishes. As the deposit enriches, the depositor
impoverishes. I have seen the wicked in great power, and spreading himself
like a green bay tree ; yet he passed away, and lo he was not ; yea, I sought
him, — went back over all the old places, — and he could not be found.
When God blows upon a man, who can find him ? The whole universe
is a protest against the selfish man. The light-streaming sun, the
former and the latter rain, the life-laden air, the odorous flower, the
gift-bearing seasons, and yonder dear Father giving himself away in
every pulsation of his being, — these are against thee, oh selfish
heart ! and when thou totterest towards the gate of dismission to
find thine own place, thou shalt depart without regret as thou
hast lived without love. The selfish man going out of the world.
Such is the picture. He brought nothing in, he can take nothing out.
Yonder he is at the further end of life. Room for the leper !
Let everything that hath life and beauty and hope and power of
worship shrink from him ! He is a leper, let him go ! He is self-
dammed, and there is no redemption. It is a singular thing this :
That men by grasping lose ; that by scraping they get nothing ; that by
having great bunches of keys to lock up seven-fold doors they can't
find what they have locked away — there must be some way inside
from the back- — some way spirits get into it^ — at all events the thing
goes. God has many ways of turning selfish man's very success to
failure and disappointment. The darkness, the mildew, the locust, the
frost, the lightning, the winds, are his servants. Thou shalt carry much
seed into the field and shalt gather but little in, for the locusts shall
consume it. " Ye have sown much and bring in little ; ye eat but ye
have not enough, ye drink but ye are not filled with drink, ye clothe
you but there is none warm. He that earneth wages, earneth wages
to put into a bag with holes." Ten women shall bake your bread in
one oven, and they shall deliver your bread again by weight, and ye
shall not be satisfied. How God mocks the bad man ! How he can
turn the wicked man's very success into failure, and how out of selfish
ambition he can bring the scorpion whose sting is death !

Now we must be careful to observe that though the text is found in
the Old Testament, the principle is distinctly held by Jesus Christ. It
is not a temporary law, it is a moral principle, it is universal and un-
changeable in its force and application. "Whosoever will save his life
shall lose it, and whosoever wall lose his life for my sake shall find it."
He that loveth his life shall lose it, and he that hateth his life in this
world shall keep it unto life eternal. " Remember the words of the
Lord Jesus, how he said. It is more blessed to give than to receive."
" Be not deceived, God is not mocked ; for whatsoever a man soweth
that shall he also reap." ^Vllat do you think of that in the light of
common-sense ? You non-christian hearers, it must sound very fool-
ish to you. A man that gains his life loses it. A man who rises early
in the morning and striving hard all day to keep himself, is actually
diminishing in the very quality of his manhood, the very volume of his
being.

D 2

42 The City Temple

A man says, " Now then, I am going in for influence." And so he
dresses for influence, looks for influence, smiles for influence, coughs
for influence, turns round and round for influence, and by the time he
has had seven years at it, people are laughing all round, and saying,
" What an extraordinarily foolish man that is ! " At the end of a much
shorter time than that such a man has all the influence he deserves, and
that is no influence at all. All great life, divine life, life like God's, is not
to be calculated about and argued out, and worked out in that ridicu-
lous fashion. Self-forgetfulness coming out of self-crucifixion, and then
you will have blessings, until there is not room to contain them.
By all means get out of yourself, if you would really do yourself
the greatest possible service. Scatter liberally with the right motive if
you would gather in the harvest, before which you may say truly — not
with atheistic insanity, but with Christian reverence — " Soul, thou
has much goods laid up for many years."

It is the same with you preachers of the gospel. I have heard
of a man who had guinea sermons and guinea-and-a-half sermons.
If he went to a place where they gave him a guinea for his sermon, he
gave them to understand that he had in reality preached them a guinea-
and-a-half sermon — one of his very best. Don't let us have sermons
of that kind. Let every occasion be the greatest in our lives.
If there be but ten men present, lavish the wealth of your intel-
lect and the treasure of your heart upon the few that hear you, and
you will have a better sermon still next time. It may not be delivered
quite so well ; you get weary, tired and exhausted oftentimes. The
carriage is not worthy of the gun. Still, whosoever shall give his best
and do his best, always shall grow more and more. He shall be as a
tree planted by the rivers of water, he will not know when the drought
cometh.

Some of you, young friends, have your scheme of life yet to
begin. Don't be narrow ; don't be little ; don't be what is termed
prudent, in the poor shallow sense of that word. Be true, be
noble, be self-oblivious. Have you natural amiability and philan-
thropic love of others ? Encourage that. Don't live inwards ; live
from your hearts outward. And who knows but that Jesus Christ may
meet you and show you the higher way, the only true and living way ?
Let me say this, that all schemes which are mere schemes, mere pro-
grammes and methods of our own are self-defeating if they are not
conceived and executed in the spirit of self-crucifixion. Don't be a
mere plan. Be a great soul, a holy life, and may the Great Father
gather you to his heart and bless you evermore ! Amen.

The City Temple

43

A HOMILETIC ANALYSIS

OF THE

Compel bg M^xK

CHAPTER I.

We have a distinct gospel to
unfold, and if we are to be faith-
ful to our calling, that gospel
will be found more than suffi-
cient to supply our own want as
preachers and to meet all the ne-
cessities of the world. Jesus Christ
preached and cast out devils, and we
have to do the same thing. We may
not meet the devil in the same
form as that in which he presented
himself during the personal ministry
of Jesus Christ, but we have to meet
him in all the subtilty, the insidi-
ousness and the terribleness of his
unchanging and unchangeable na-
ture. The preacher must make up
his mind that there are still devils
to be cast out ; every man carries
within him his own devil, some in-
deed carry legion. The only exhaus-
tive is the Saviour, and we are
called to tell this fact and to per-
suade men to avail themselves of
His delivering power.

Under these verses might be
shown the positive and the negative
work of the christian ministry ; the
positive work being to preach the
gospel, the negative to cast out
devils. Great service would be
done to humanity by fully develop-
ing the idea that all evil purposes
and dispositions are to be associated
distinctly with the name of the devil.
We are to tell men not merely that
we seek to make them better by con-
ducting them into the knowledge of
new doctrines, but we are to take
our stand before them as men who

have come to deliver them from the
personal power of the devil. There
is hope of a man when he realises
that he has actually been under
Satanic dominion. So long as he
looks upon his life as being blemish-
ed here and there it is possible that
he may have most inadequate ideas
ot the mission of Jesus Christ, but
when he realises that he has ac-
tually been the habitation of the
very devil, he may be led to cry
out for the deliverance which the
gospel has come to effect. The
realisation on the part of the minis-
ter that he has to counteract and
destroy the devil will stimulate him
to use his utmost endeavours to
make full proof of his ministry. He
has not only to cope with wrong
notions, but with a diabohc per-
sonality ; and if this conviction
thoroughly possess him he will of
necessity cultivate ever deepening
fellowship with Jesus Christ, who
alone has the power to break up
the kingdom of Satan.

40 And there came a leper to him, beseech-
ing him, and kneeling down to him, and
saying unto him, If thou wilt, thou canst make
me clean.

41 And Jesus, moved with compassion, put
forth his hand and touched him, and said unto
him, I will ; be thou clean.

42 And as soon as he had spoken, immedi-
ately the leprosy departed from him, and he
was cleansed.

43 And he straightly charged him, and
forthwith sent him away ;

44 And saith unto him, See thou say
nothing to any man : but go thy way, shew
thyself to the priest, and offer for thy cleansing

44

The City Temple

those things which Moses commanded, for a
testimony unto them.

45 But he went out and began to publish
it much, and to blaze abroad the matter,
insomuch that Jesus could no more openly
enter into the city, but was without in desert
places : and they came to him from every
quarter.

In the 27th verse we found men
putting questions regarding Jesus
Christ's power ; in the 40th verse
we find a poor sufferer seeking to
avail himself of Jesus Christ's
curative energy. This marks the
great difference between various
classes of society in relation to the
work of the Saviour. One class is
content with looking, wondering,
and perhaps admiring ; another
class must test his power in direct
personal experience. Let it be
distinctly pointed out that it is not
sufficient to wonder at the ministry
of Jesus Christ. In this chapter we
have seen some who were brought
to the Saviour ; in the 40th verse
we find a man who came to Jesus.
Point out the blessedness of those
who have others to conduct them
to Jesus Christ ; also point out the
opportunity which each man has of
making his own case known to Jesus
Christ. This incident shows the
trust which the ministry of the
Saviour had inspired in the minds
of sufferers, specially so in the case
of the leper ; the leper lived under
the most terrible restrictions, yet
his heart rose to the point of trust
and love when he heard of the
wonderful works of this new Man.
Others would have turned him
away, or would have run eagerly
beyond his reach, but Jesus Christ
the undefiled and undefiling man,
received him, touched him and
recovered him of his leprosy. Re-
garding this incident as illustrative
of the method of spiritual salvation,
it should be distinctly shown that
the leper put himself unreservedly

without any suggestion or wishes
of his own into the hands of the
Healer. He did not wish to be a
party to the active work of healing
himself; he was content to be
passive, to wait his Lord's will. It
should also be shown that Jesus
Christ instantly gave practical ex-
pression to his own deep pity and
mercy ; he delights in immediately
answering prayer ; when we appeal
to His justice, His righteousness,
His sovereignty, we may be held a
long time v\^aiting that we may know
more fully what is meant by these
high terms ; but when we come in
weakness and poverty crying to His
compassion His heart instantly moves
towards us. The humble desire of
suftering soon moves the heart of
Jesus Christ. The third point that
may be dwelt upon is the complete-
ness ot Christ's cure ; immediately
the leprosy departed from the man
and he was cleansed. Is our
Christian state one of complete
pardon and hope ? It is not asked
whether it is one of complete
sanctification, that is a progressive
work ; but the work of pardon will
bring with it an instantaneous
assurance that the burden of guilt
has been removed. The impossi-
bility of silence under the influence
of great blessing is here most vividly
illustrated. The joy of thankful-
ness cannot always be controlled.
Christians must speak. The ex-
planation of a true ministry is found
in this incident. When we have
received the highest blessings from
the hands of Christ we feel an
unchangeable desire to tell others
of the great results of our having
met the Saviour. The 45th verse
shows how much can be done by
the energy of one man. So much
did the recovered leper publish his
restoration that Jesus Christ could
no more openly enter into the city

A Homiletic Analysis

45

by reason of the multitude that
thronged upon him, and by reason
of the sensation which so great a
miracle had created. Is there not
in this incident an illustration of
what we may do by being faithful
to our convictions and impulses
regarding the Son of God ? Have
we been healed without publishing
the fact ? Have we mentioned the
fact of our conversion even to our
dearest friend ? Learn from the
leper the possibility ot so exciting
a whole neighbourhood about per-
sonal recovery as to extend the
name and bring blessings upon the
gracious power of Jesus Christ.

The 44th verse may be used for
the purpose of showing how Jesus
Christ brings men into the estab-
lished laws and relations of His own
government, even under circum-
stances which might seem to justify
an exception to the usual course of
things. In our highest moments
of inspiration and delight we ought
to be controlled by law. Even our
ecstacy should be regulated where
it might endanger the constancy
and faithfulness of our life. Jesus
Christ never dissociates the minis-
try from the preceding dispensa-
tions ; he always heightens and
consummates, he never destroys ex-
cept by fulfilment, as the fruit des-
troys the blossom. The whole
chapter might be used for the pur-
pose of showing hoio possible it is
for our christian life to be sublime

from the very begimmig. This is
the very first chapter in the gospel
of Jesus Christ, yet it is full of light ;
it might have been the last chapter,
so crowded is it with incidents and
good works. There are christian
people who are afraid of doing too
much at the beginning ; such peo-
ple cannot have entered very deep-
ly into the spirit of their Lord's
enthusiasm and self sacrifice. Youth-
ful christians should be encouraged
to work from the very moment of
the beginning of their new life.
The earnest man does not care
about the artistic graduation of his
services, he does not even consider
such a possibility ; instantly that
Jesus Christ takes possession of his
heart his whole life becomes con
secrated to the service of true doc-
trine and practical philanthropy.
This chapter gives a most terrible
rebuke to the notion that men
should come only gradually into
high christian engagements ; no re-
newed heart can too soon begin to
do the good works and bear the
blessed fruits of christian regenera-
tion. On the other hand, it should
be pointed out for the encourage-
ment of such as have few opportu-
nities for the development of chris-
tian vocation, that they will be judg-
ed not by the more public services
which their brethren may render,
but by the position in life which
they have been called pro viden tally
to occupy.

CHAPTER II.

I And again he entered into Capernaum
after some days, and it was . iised that he was
in the house.

The importance of having the
names of towns and other places
associated with religious services.
Capernaum was thus associated with
the name of Christ. Show what it

is to have bad associations with
places, how tormenting to the me-
mory and how enfeebling in the
matter of enterprise.

2 And straightway many were gathered,
in so much that there was no room to receive
them, no not so much as about the door : and
he preached the word unto them.

4|6

The City Temple

The gospel has a word to crowds
as well as individual men. The
gospel is universal in its doctrines,
and hence can be preached to all
classes at all times and in all places.
It is also particular in its applica-
tion of truth, so that it can be ad-
dressed to any single human being.
When Jesus Christ saw crowds, his
business was to preach the word to
them. Christians should endea-
vour to get Jesus Christ's view of
crowds of men. To the christian
heart a crowd is a most exciting
scene. The histories, the passions,
the purposes, the designs of a great
crowd, who can tell but God ! Yet
the Gospel is adapted to all.

3 And they come unto him, bringing one
sick of the palsy, which was borne of four.

4 And when they could not come nigh unto
him for the press, they uncovered the roof
where he was : and when they had broken it
up, they let down the bed wherein the sick of
the palsy lay.

5 \Vhen Jesus saw their faith, he said unto
the sick of the palsy, Son, thy sins be forgiven
thee.

6 But there were certain of the scribes
sitting there, and reasoning in their hearts,

7 Why doth this man thus speak blasphem-
ies ? who can forgive sins but God only ?

8 And immediately when Jesus perceived
in his spirit that they so reasoned within them-
selves, he said unto them, Why reason ye these
things in your hearts ?

9 Whether is it easier to say to the sick of
the palsy, Thy sins be forgiven thee ; or to say,
arise, and take up thy bed and walk ?

lo But that ye may know that the Son of
Man hath power on earth to forgive sins, (he
saith to the sick of the palsy,)

III say unto thee. Arise, and take up thy
bed, and go thy way into thine house.

1 2 And immediately he arose, took up the
bed, and went forth before them all ; insomuch
that they were all amazed, and glorified God,
saying, We never saw it on this fashion.

( I ) The helplessness of some men :
all helplessness traceable to sin
(2) The social usefulness of other
men ; we can all carry sufferers to
Christ, even when we cannot heal
them ourselves. To point a sinner
to Jesus Christ is a good work, to

carry a little child to the Saviour is
to execute a most blessed mission.
(3) The possibiUties of earnestness ;
these men uncovered the roof in
their determination to approach the
Healer. Some would have gone
away saying they would return on a
more favourable occasion ; some
would have given up the endeavour
altogether ; these earnest men had
an object in view, and were resolved
on its accomplishment. All men
can get to the Saviour if they so
determine, however many be the
apparent or real difficulties in their
way. (4) The vigilance of Jesus
Christ over human action. Not-
withstanding the crowds and his
engagement in addressing them,
Jesus Christ saw what was being
done in this particular instance ; he
knew the meaning of the extraor-
dinary movement that was taking
place, and the reward which he gave
to the earnest men was great. (5)
The censorious spirits of technical
observers. The scribes accused the
Saviour of blasphemy ; they could
not ^mderstand his inspiration, and
it is always a misfortune to be
misunderstood. Whoever detennines
to live the highest life, determines
also to expose himself to the heavy
penalties of misinterpretation. Jesus
Christ did not deny their inference
regarding his claim to the Godhead ;
he did not instantly disclaim any
pretence to be as God, on the con-
trary, he so asserted his power as to
justify the astounding inference of
the scribes. Particular notice should
be taken of this as an incidental
proof of Jesus Christ's Godhead.
To have allowed even tacitly the
rightness of such inferences as were
forced upon the scribes was, apart
from his divinity, nothing short of a
blasphemous assertion on his part.
Jesus Christ works in much the
same manner in relation to spiritual

A Homiletic Analysis

47

diseases. We can get no higher than
Himself; He is exalted to be a
Prince and a Saviour, and He gives
according to His sovereign will in
response to iiuman faith. The ful-
ness of Jesus Christ's power is shown
in the perfect ease with which he
works his miracles. He speaks the
recreating word, and yet there is
within Him no sign of exhaustion
or insufficiency. Sinners should
learn from this incident not to be
discouraged because there are tech-
nical reasoners in their way who are
fertile in the suggestion of objec-
tions : those who bore the sick of
the palsy on this occassion did not
listen to the reasonings or the objec-
tions of those by whom they were
surrounded. If any man in going
to Jesus Christ can be detained in
the way to listen to the criticisms
and counsels of those who are
opposed to Christ, the probability
is that he will never reach the
Saviour. It is true that in this in-
stance the scribes were reasoning in
their hearts, and not openly so that
they could be heard by a crowd ;
it is also true in our own day that
many reason aloud against the possi-
bility of Jesus Christ's saving sin-
ners, those therefore who are con-
scious of sin ought to be put on
their guard against subtle and per-
sistent objectors. Had the man
been unconscious of a deep and
distressing want, he and his friends
might have listened to captious
reasoning ; but his necessity was so
urgent that nothing less than a per-
sonal interview with Christ would
satisfy him. It is the same with the
deadlier palsy of sin. If it be not
to us the most terrible reality in our
nature — if we do not so comprehend
its horribleness as to loathe it unut-
terably— if we do not feel the moral
agony which it inflicts until we cry
out almost in despair, " What shall

we do to be saved" — it is almost cer-
tain that we shall be turned aside
by frivolous critics. The first thing
to be done is to feel bitterly and
inexpressibly the infinite abomina-
tion of sin. No progress in our
approach to Jesus Christ can be
made until we have come into this
experience of the exceeding sinful-
ness of sin. In proportion as a
man's estimate of sin is low will he
be indisposed to find Jesus Christ ;
when his sin fills his heart with
sorrow and despair, he will be re-
solved to surmount all obstacles
that would interrupt his course to-
wards the Saviour. The great result
of the cure wrought upon the palsied
man will be repeated on a broader
scale in the consummation of Jesus
Christ's ministry. It is said that
" The people were all amazed and
glorified God, saying, We never
saw it on this fashion." So shall it
be in the end of all things, there
will be one universal ascription of
glory to Him who has redeemed
the human race from sin and given
it eternal life. Here is contention
at the beginning; men see things
only in shadow and outline ; whilst
the process is going on they are
victimized by their own impatience
and oftentimes interrupt the Saviour
and shew their utter want of self-
control ; but when the whole work
is finished there will be throughout
the universe a sense of thankful and
glad amazement.

13 And he went forth again by the seaside;
and all the multitude resorted unto them and
he taught them.

14 And as he passed by, he saw Levi the
son of Alphaeus sitting at the receipt of cus-
tom, and said unto him. Follow me. And he
arose and followed him.

The Saviour was not content with
an occasional great effort, as we are
apt to be. He is now found teach-
ing the multitudes. Here is an

48

The City Temple

illustration of the two-fold ministry
of Jesus Christ, namely, doing
good to the bodies and also to the
minds of men. We are left to infer
what is meant by this word taught.
It is clear from the whole course of
Jesus Christ, that Ju regarded all
men as requiring teaching ; and it is
also clear that he set himself forth
as the Teacher who alone could re-
veal the highest truths of the uni-
verse. The christian minister is to
be emphatically a teacher ; he can
only teach truly and successfully as
he repeats the lessons which he finds
in the life of the Saviour. Teaching
is more difficult than preaching. In
teaching there must be inquiry into
the special circumstances of the
learners, and an encountering of the
particular difficulties of those who
come to be taught; the preacher
has to a large extent to deal with
general truths, he has to make bold
universal proclamations ; wher£as
the teacher may have to go into
special adaptation of the divine
truth to the distinctive circumstances
of the individual case. The teacher
requires to be not only thoroughly
intelligent and intensely devoted
to his work, but to be long-suffering
in his spirit and method of service.
Men cannot be taught truth, pff-
handedly ; their prejudices must be
studied, their capacities must be
considered, and there must be such
skilful balance in the offering of
truth as shall meet different degrees
of culture and sensibility. In the
14th verse we turn once more to
the individual case. In the 13 th
verse we have a multitude receiving
instruction ; in the 14th verse we
have 07ie man specially called. This
is the way christian ministers and
teachers must work ; we cannot all
be like our Master having equal
facility in addressing crowds and
persuading individual hearers : some

men have a gift of speaking so as to
hold great multitudes under their
dominion ; others again have a most
useful talent in speaking to the in-
dividual life and conscience. Levi
was called from the receipt of cus-
tom ; the great point is to consider
not what a man is called frojn^ but
what he is called to. We are all
called from sin ; we look not so
much to that as to the infinite glory
which is set before us as the outcome
of Christian faith and love and ser-
vice. The 14th verse might be
used as shewing what can be done
in the way of ificidental work for
Christ; we learn that Jesus Christ
"passed by," as if this circumstance
occun-ed quite casually and not in
the working out of a set purpose.
It does not seem to have been part
of the plan, yet undoubtedly it was
so in the mind of Christ to whom
nothing could happen by chance.
There is however a lesson to us,
that we are to be always on the out-
look for the good of men whom we
are passing by in the various ways
of life. Wherever we see a man we
see an opportunity of speaking a
word for Christ, and of calling men
to a higher life. Courage and pru-
dence are equally required in the
discharge of these incidental ser-
vices. There is a modesty that is
immodest, and there is a forward-
ness which is but the courage of
humility.

1 5 And it came to pass that as Jesus sat at
meat in his house, many pubhcans and sinners
sat also together with Jesus and his disciples:
for there were many and they followed him.

1 6 And when the scribes and Pharisees saw
him eat with publicans and sinners, they said
unto his disciples, How is it that he eatetii and
drinketh with publicans and sinners ?

These verses show that Jesus
Christ lived under a constant fire of
criticism. This was not unnatural.
Ifwe have escaped criticism it maybe
becausewe have escaped Christianity.

T^he City Temple.

SELF -GOVERNED CHURCHES.

NLESS there be intense spiritual life in self-governed churches,
there will be anarchy, clamour, debate, and mutual distrust.
We are growingly of opinion that all self-contained and self-
ruling churches afford great scope for the play of the worst
passions of half-christianised nature. Little men are invested with great
power. The hand of a clodhopper counts as much as the hand of a
philosopher. Church squabbling is the only recreation which some
persons allow themselves. The shopkeeper primes himself with argu-
ments against the minister ; the most impertinent member of the
mutual improvement society turns over in his " mind" the best way of
assailing his pastor ; the purse-proud upstart, whose grandfather never
wore a pair of boots, determines to " have it out at the next church-
meeting ;•" and various other seat-holders plot a little ecclesiastical
mischief in their several ways. On all these points wc can unhappily
bring only too much evidence in proof On the other hand, it is most
happily true that in many churches there is a strong combination of
order and liberty ; pastors are beloved and honoured j members hold
each other in cordial esteem. We v.-ish to be most explicit upon this
point. Far be it from us to indulge in unmodified condemnation.
Instance upon instance might be accumulated in which pastors and
churches live together in thorough christian hamiony, yielding without
reluctance to the duty of mutual concession, each finding in the other
the complement without which both would be incomplete and weak.
Such instances, however, throw into painful contrast the cases in which
christian privilege is degraded into licentiousness. There is an aspect
of Congregationalism which has been made revolting by oft-repeated
E

50 'The City Temple

and most vicious abuse of membership and office. We know ministers
whose life is little better than genteel slavery. They are poor — they
have large families dependent upon theni — and by so much they cannot
aftbrd to resent criticisms and interferences of the vulgarest and coarsest
kind. One man will ask how it is that so few additions are made to the
church? Another will inquire how it is that the collections have fallen
off? A third will profess to lament that the seats were better let in
former years. A fifth will intimate that " we must have preaching
which is abreast of the times." The minister often listens to these
things with a justly angry spirit, oftener still with a heavy or aching
heart, — but what can he do ? Shall he answer a fool according to his
folly ? That is exactly what the fool would like above everything. Shall
he restrain himself, and swallow his grief in secret ? He does so, but
such discipline often brings with it discouragement and sadness, —
sometimes almost despair. Under such circumstances no man can
u'ork heartily ; his very life is diminished ; his hope, his inspiration, is
withdrawn from him. Then, there is negative opposition as well as
active. The tenant of the first pew simply hangs down his head when
the minister is preaching — nothing more I The tenant of the second
pew always absents himself when the minister specially requests the
presence of every seat-holder. The tenants of pews number eight,
eleven, and fourteen always give most money to charity collections
when the sermons are preached by any other minister than their own.
And these lovely characters never say anything harsh, and never move
hostile resolutions ! Are we, in view of such blemishes, to be told that,
after a.11, it is only a bit of human nature ? The suggestion is not an
explanation. The magistrate does not say to the felon that he has
given way to human nature ; the judge does not find in human nature
an excuse for the murderer. Are we to be told, then, that when a man
does not take your spoons but only steals your good name, does not kill
the body but only thrusts a poisoned weapon through your affections,
that he is to be excused on the ground that, after all, it is only a bit of
human nature ? There is but one remedy for such a state of things :
that one remedy — divine, sovereign, unfailing — is, closer comniinion
with Jesus Clirist through the Holy Ghost.

In the hope of showing the catholicity of our Thursday Service, we
applied to a most distinguished and influential clergyman of the Church
of England to preside at the preliminary prayer meeting. We withhold
his universally honoured name, but we think that his fraternal words

The City Temple 51

ought to be known to all our readers : they have greatly cheered
us in our work, llis reply is as follows : — " I am dee})ly touched
by your kind wish and request. If I say No to it, you will believe
that it is in no unkind or unbrotherly spirit, when I tell you that I
have myself, with a very dear friend, been one of your congregation
at the Thursday Midday Service in Cheapside, and was immensely

struck by the scene and by the sermon Most

truly and cordially yours." Such a note as this enables one to get over
a good deal of discouragement.

It is proposed that every meeting of the London School Board be
opened with prayer. The matter stands over for settlement, but, so
far as we can gather from the discussion which has already taken place,
there is small chance for the success of the motion. It must be borne
in mind that the Board is not pronouncing any opinion upon the doc-
trine or practice of prayer : it is simply considering whether, having
regard to the peculiarities of its own constitution, it is advisable to hide
its religious disunion under a solemn act which would be little better
than enforced simulation in some cases. The practical difficulties
which beset the proposition are by no means inconsiderable. Who is
to compose the prayer — a Churchman, a Dissenter, or a Papist ? Who
is to offer the prayer — a paid chaplain, a clergyman, an Independent, a
Wesleyan, a Baptist, or a Romish priest ? Is it to be a written prayer,
according to the method of the Established Church ? or an extempore
prayer, according to the practice of Nonconformists ? These questions
would not be found easy of settlenient in such an assembly as the
London School Board. It is plain to us that if there is to be any
religious service in connection with the meetings of the Board, the
utmost that can be done is to have either the Lord's Prayer or a por-
tion of Holy Scripture read by the Chairman or the Clerk. In our
opinion, however, the motion should be withdrawn.

REPORT OF A DISCOURSE DELIVERED BY

JOSEPH PARKER,

In Poultry Chapel, on Thursday Morning, January 26, 187
(the sixty-fourth noonday service.)

THE INVOCATION.

Almighty God, in Thee we live and move and have our being. Everywhere hast thou set up
witnesses of thy power and thy goodness. Thou hast made all life, but thou hast also redeemed
the life of man. Enable us to know the price of our redemption, and to glorify God in our
body and in our spirits, which have been ransomed at so great cost. Watch us, and our
secuiity shall be complete. Be near us, and no arm shall do us injury. Stablish us, and our
foundation shall be immovable. Put within us thy Holy Spirit, and we shall not sin against
thee. Jesus Christ, blessed and only Son of God, show us all the tender glory of thy salvation.
Let thy light, which is above the brightness of the sun, shine upon our vision, and we shall
reioice as men who have seen a marvellous light. Let our waiting before thee be the means
of recovering our strength. Oh, Thou who hearest prayer ! incline thine ear unto the voice
of our supplication ; and through Jesus Christ, our blessed and only Saviour, let Thy peace
rest upon us. Amen.

LITTLE BUT WISE.

" There be four things which are little upon the earth, but they are exceeding wise :
The ants are a people not strong, yet they prepare their meat in the summer ; the conies are
but a feeble folk, yet make they their houses in the rocks ; the locusts have no king, yet go
they forth all of them by bands ; the spider taketh hold with her hands, and is in kings'
palaces." — Proverbs, xxx., 24, 25, 26, 27, 28.

HESE words distinctly teach that wisdom is not measur-
able by physical magnitude. The large man may be a little
man. The little body may shelter a great soul. The
elephantine and prodigious body may hardly have a soul
These things are perfectly well known to every one of

at all.

us, yet we require to be reminded of them with some frequency,
because so many appeals are addressed to our senses. We are called
upon to admire mere bigness, bulk, surface, and weight. The same
terms do not always mean the same thing. Sometimes little is not

Li i tie hut PVise 5j

merely little. Sometimes greatness is greatness tnini/s. Some pounds
have sixteen ounces in them, other pounds have only twelve. Butchers
and silversmiths do not reckon by the same arithmetical tables. In a
prosperous condition of society, a single diamond may be worth more
money than all the beasts in a cattle market ; but in times of famine
one lamb will be more precious than all the diamonds in kings' houses.
Value varies according to circumstances. He is the wise man who
knows the one thing vx^hose value never changes, which over-balances
and reduces to insignificance the pomp of unintelligent creation. If
we lay hold of these things and estimate values correctly, it will
help in the adjustment of social relations and in the appreciation of
those virtues which ought ever to be uppermost in a true condition of
society. We are called upon to remember that wisdom, and wisdom alone,
is the true standard of measurement; that the humblest life is greater
than the sublimest art, and tliat one spark of intellect is infinitely more
precious than the most crushing animal strength.

" Were I so tall to reach the pole,
Or grasp the ocean in my span,
I must be measured by my soul —

The mind 's the standard ot the man."

The lesson of the morning is that it is possible to be little and yet
to be exceeding wise. Let us gather round these little wise creatures
and learn what we may from them. " Ask now the beasts and they
shall teach thee, and the fowls of the heavens and they shall tell thee."
He makes a wise use of nature who regards it as a book of divine in-
struction. Everything has its lesson. Everywhere I find the signature,
the autograph of God, and he will never deny his own handwriting.
God hath set his tabernacle in the dewdrop as .surely as in the sun.
No man can any more create the meanest polyp than he could create
the greatest world. We are surrounded by instructors ; we are in a
great school-house ; it is full of letters, lessons, illustrations and appeals.
li, then, we be found fools after all, how bitter, how terrible must be
our condemnation ! Blame not the savage in the lonely forest for his
ignorance of letters ; but the man \vho has had eveiy opportunity of
attaining scholarship, and after all remains in ignorance, rightly deserves
the concentrated bitterness ot human contempt. But beware of
setting up precedents and inaugurating analogies and instituting seats
of judgment ; because God will gather them all altogether one day,
and his gTcat white throne will be the more terrible for the precedents
we ourselves have perpetrated.

" The ants are a people not strong, yet they prepare their meat in
the summer." This is forecast. Some people seem to have no forecast ;
they are never quite sure how many two and two Avill make. They
seem to have no power of turning the past into the prophet of the future.
They bury the past, and act upon this advice, " let the dead past
bury its dead." But there is a past that is not dead, and we must not im-
pose upon that living, instructive, interpretative prophetic past the duty
of burying itself Yesterday is the key which opens to-morrow, so far as
great principles and fundamental conditions ot life and service are con-
cerned. The ants gather their meat in the summer ; that is, they know
E 2

54 The City Temple

the time of their opportunity, and they make the best of it. We our-
selves have a Uttle proverb, which may match the text. How is it your
proverb runs, my friend ? " Make hay while the sun shmes." And
there is another like unto it : quote it, if you please. " Strike the iron
while it is hot." What if you geniuses in hay, and philosophers in iron,
be found at last to be tools in the soul, lunatics and madmen about your
standing with God ! " If the light that is in us be darkness how great
is that darkness."

Every man has a summer. It is quite true, indeed, that some summers
are very short ; yet, it must be repeated, least any man should run
away with the notion that he has no opportunity of being and doing
good — that every man has a summer ; only one summer. Man has but
one boyhood, as the day has but one dawn. Life hath but one summer, as
hath the rolling year. Yet, to some men, an hour has more than sixty
minutes in it, and to other men all the clocks in Christendom could
never teach the value of time. There are men who never have time to
do anything, — they are always going to think about how this thing or
that might be approached and come round upon and looked at ; and
whilst they are engaged in this serene and philosophical exercise, the
whole thing passes on beyond their reach, beyond their influence.
There is one thing for which men ought to find time, and that is to
prepare for the future. Do you say you have not time ? How then
are you spending your time ? In business, in strife after position, try-
ing to get daily bread honestly. Well, all this up to a given point
is perfectly right, perfectly defensible. But see ! You had better set
fire to your shop, — you had better go without bread,— you had better
hide your nakedness in some distant retreat where man could never
find you,^ — than lose the opportunity of knowing spiritual and
rectifying spiritual relations, of knowing God, laying hold upon him and
following hard after him. The life is more than meat. If anything is
to be saved out of the fire, it is not the decoration, the luxury, the toy, —
it is the child ! The life first, and then if you can get anything after-
wards by all means get it ; but do in the name of your own common
sense be as reasonable and as sensible in spiritual things as you are in
things that are temporal. Summer is quickly going with some
of you yet learn, that if one moment remains a great deal may
be done in it. It is marvellous how the very greatest things
we read of have been done, as it were, instantaneously. It is
wonderful what creative force there is in one word, what determining
might there is in one resolution, how in one moment a man may change
the current of his life and the point of his destiny. " Now is the accept-
ed time, now is the day of salvation." It is a point of time, — it is one
effort of the heart, — it is one gasp of the soul, and then — What ?
Eternity ! Heaven ! There may have been long processes, but the
climateric deed is often expressed by a word. Some of you have had
time enough to get to the height of your aspirations, to get through
your processes of thinking and considering and calculating. And hear
me ! If you have had this time and have abused it, from this moment
your life is not an ascension, it is an anti-climax.

Little but Wise

55

"The conies are but a feeble folk, yet they make their houses in the
rock." The tenant is weak, the habitation is strong. Here is a puny, a
very feeble folk, going up towards the great rock-house. Why, there is
something very pathetic, very beautiful in that — in weakness seeking the
granite, in feebleness hiding itself in some pavilion of rock. There is a
law of compensation. In the universe there is a law of what I may
term complement, a law which makes up to men, somehow, the thing
that is wanting. Man must always look out of himself for this
complemental quantity. God provides the rock for the conies, and God
provides a rock for all weakness. What if the conies should attempt to
say, " We are a feeble folk, but we are just as God has made us ; so we
shall stop out here in summer and in winter. We shall take things
just as they fall out ; we didn't make ourselves, and therefore we have no
reason to look after anything." " Why," you would say, " the
conies are a very feeble folk indeed, — feeble in their intellect,
feeble in their common sense, as well as feeble in their physical
faculties." A man may say, "I am not equal to this or that j
I am insufficient ; there are points when I feel myself utterly un-
equal to the task that is before me. I cannot reach my ideals ; my
prayers outstrip me ; I can't follow after them, except at immense dis-
tances. Life is too much for me ; the great overbearing forces of life
are too much for me, — I must succumb." Is there any provision
made for this state of things by the Great Creator, the merciful Re-
deemer, and the gentle Father of mankind ? There is a Rock provided
for all weakness.

" Rock of Ages, cleft for me,
Let me hide myself in Thee" —

is the only rock in which all man's weaknesses can be hidden. That is
the only power by which a man's feebleness can be defended. It is
indeed a stone of stumbling and a rock of offence. But we are distinctly
told that it is laid in Zion by God himself, and that it is elect, tried, precious
and sure. "There is no other name given under heaven, whereby we can be
saved, but the name of Jesus Christ." Those of us who have known this
a long while, will make a joyful noise unto the rock of our salva-
tion. We will say, " the Lord is my rock, and my fortress, and my sure
abiding place." Has any man entered this house in a spirit of complaint ?
Then, I have to teach that man that every one of us has a compensation.
If you have not one thing you have another. You have no money, but you
have good health. Your circumstances are very gloomy ; yes, but you
have a most hopeful disposition. You are sleepless by reason of adver-
sity ; true, but you have the hearing ear which hears the nightingale
when miles away. You have no estates ; no, — but you have the poetic
eye, which gives you proprietorship in all the sunny landscape.
You have no acquaintances ; no,- — but you find fellowship in a thousand
noble thoughts. You are blind ; yes, — but there is sunshine on your
soul. You have no hands ; true, — but you can write and paint with
your leet. So, I never met a man anywhere who was in a grumbling,
censorious, reproachful temper, but that I could find in that man some
compensation, I could point out in him some little bright spot that he
had overlooked. Everywhere I find the seal of God's goodness, — the

5 6 The City Temple ^

stamp of his tender and enduring mercy. " Let everything that hath
breath say, his mercy endureth for ever.''

" The locusts have no king, yet they come forth all of them by
bands " — a very beautiful and practical republic. They have no king,
but every one of them has a little bit of kingliness in himself You
cannot have a grand republic without kingliness, and you cannot have a
great state if you only have a king in it. Here I find combination —
not lonely wandering, solitary tlying, eveiy one studying to do a little
for himself; I find co-operation — going together, moving in bands.
I saw a chain the other day in one of the public parks.
I followed it as it lay upon the grass, and I found it was tether-
ing an animal some twenty yards off". I said to myself. Which of the
links holds that cow ? Not the first link, nor the second, nor the third,
nor the fortieth nor fiftieth. Which link is really holding that cow ? Not
one of the links, but all the links on the chain are doing so. And what
is the chain ? Only a series of links, and so links and chain, chain and
links, are all doing the work. That is how it must be in business, in
families, in churches, in governments, in all great confederacies of life.

Here is a most copious and gracious shower for the refreshing of
the parched earth : the flowers are drinking in the blessing, and the
earth is looking young again. What did it ? Catch one of the drops,
and say, Are you doing this ? No. AVhich drop did it ? No drop did
it — the shdwer did it ! So it must be in our great christian agencies.
There is no one man can do it all. God hath not appointed men so to
do. He hath called us to unity, to co-operation, to banding ourselves
together, to finding in each other the complement of ourselves. Every man
has a sphere. Though we may have a republic, it won't mean that one is as
good as another. One man is not as good as another, and one man is not as
much of a man as another : he may require a larger coat, but a very
small accommodation will do for his soul. It may be so, or it may not •
be so ; and if we were all equal this moment, before the clock went
round once we should all be sixes and sevens — and mainly I am afraid
sixes.

There are, after all, men who cannot go in bands — men who must be
complete in themselves, so far as action is concerned. Though there are
some (what shall I say roughly .?) hundred denominations in Christendom,
and there wants a hundred andjfrj-/ just to meet some peculiar man, some
odd man, who has been looking out for a church where • he can sit
down, and has not yet met a church with which he can unite himself.
Well, well ! Let him be a church by himself. He is a crooked rail,
perhaps one day we may turn a corner with him.

The spider taketh hold with her hands, and is in kings' liouses. Does
this mean skill ? This skill will have its reward. Does it mean patience
in working out elaborate and beautiful results. Then here is
progress — getting into kings' houses, into high places, into palatial
position. Every man is set upon an ascending line of human life.
You never find God calling a man downwards, diminishing the
volume of his manhood, checking his good aspirations, putting
him down in the scale of his being. All the divine movement is an up-
ward movement. We are not always to be children, wc are to be men.

Little but Wise 57

We are not to be content with the point of conversion, we are to grow
in grace. We are not to be satisfied with being branches in the vine,
we are to bring forth much fruit. We are not to see how httle we can
do, we are to be always abounding in the work of the Lord.

Here then is a test of growth and the standard of manhood.
Here is a reward of industry and skill and patience. In all labour there
is profit. You do not see all the results of your work, your patience,
your attention to culture, to duty, to service. You don't know the
rewards of your tranquil trust, your uncomplaining pain and suffering.
There is profit in the thing itself; there is not always a marketable
profit — something that can be set up and ticketted at a fair price. But
there is in the soul, in the man himself, such growth and strength, such
refinement, such tenderness, such majesty as nothing else could have
wrought in him.

Now, my dear friends, the whole study becomes an argument. If
God has given such wisdom to insects, how much more will he give to
men ? They can't ask for any more ; we are urged to speak to him to
give us further supplies. " If any man lack wisdom let him ask of God,
who giveth unto all men liberally and upbraideth not." What ! will He
make a wise insect, and forget the child fashioned in His own image —
imperial, divine — after His own likeness ? Then if we are not wise,
whose blame is it ? It is not God's blame. He waits to communicate,
he loves to give. An ungiving God ! That would be a monstrosity of
paganism, — a degradation of mythology itself We are called to
asking, to prayer, to supplication, to pleading, that the volume
of our being may be increased, that our spiritual graces may be multi-
plied, and that all that is divine in us may be enhanced and confirmed.
No man can be wise without this union with God. He may
have swallowed whole libraries — he may be a Jielluo libronoti, but he is
not wise. If God commends so distinctly the right use of instinct, how
bitterly will he complain of the abuse of reason ! Men are sent
to the ants to learn diligence. They are sent to the conies to
learn that there is a way which terminates in a great rock.
They are sent to the locusts to learn how littles, when combined,
may become mighty, sufficient for all the duty and obligation of the
day. What if it be found at the last that all the lower orders and ranks
of creation have been obedient, dutiful, loyal, — and that the child only
has wounded the great heart ? " The ox knoweth his owner, and
the ass his master's crib ; but Israel doth not know, my people do
not consider.'' God has had no trouble with his creatures — no
trouble with his great constellations — they never mutinied against him ;
he has had no trouble with his forests — no rebel host ever banded them-
selves there. Where has his sorrow lain ? His own child, his beloved
one, in whom he has written in fairest lines the perfectness of his own
beauty, that child has lifted up his puny fist and smitten him, not in
the face only, but on his heart of love, which only can be for-
given by the shedding of sacrificial blood. " The stork in the
heavens knoweth her appointed times ; the turtle and the crane and the
swallow observe the time of their coming, but my people know not the
judgment of the Lord." And oh, the madness, the insanity, which says,

58

The City Temple

" We are taking our own course because we believe in our own reason.
We follow our own judgment; we are asserting the right of our own think-
ing." Fools, madmen ! Who gave you any spark of reason you have?
Is it your own ? did you bargain for it, buy it ? How was that little lamp
lighted, by whose flickering spark you are trying to grope your way
through the dark and perilous unknown ? He who gave the insect instinct,
power of thinking about its own little world and planning its own little
clay's work, gave you your reason ; and it would be quite as reasonable,
if it were at all possible, that the ants and the conies and the locusts and
the spiders should call a conference and council to take each others'
advice about working out their own independent judgment, as it is for
men to think they can do without God and find their way without the
light which is above the brightness of the sun. We are all guilty in this
matter. We have all been too self-reliant, too self-boastful ; we have all
taken too much into our own hands. God be merciful unto us sinners !
Amen.

A HOMILETIC ANALYSIS

OF THE

Compel bg iWarft.

CHAPTER H.

Criticism will always be pro-
voked by an intensely christian
spirit. Men are apt to think that
Jesus Christ took upon himself all
criticism, and so relieved his fol-
lowers from the remarks of those
who are now opposed to them. This
should be shown to be a deadly
error. Those who criticised Jesus
Christ were men of good outward
standing, yet they were destitute of
moral purity : such men are always
most forward in giving opinions
about the conduct oi other people.
Where there is high moral charac-
ter there will be prolonged for-
bearance of other people's weak-
nesses, but where the outward
habit is in excess of the inward
principle there will be no lack of
censorious criticism. In the case
of Jesus Christ it is clearly shown
that wliere there is moral purity there
is noble independence of public

opinion : Jesus went boldly into
such houses as he elected as his
temporary residences, he sat openly
with publicans and sinners ; and
the reason of what in other
men would have been defiant
bravery was the intense and in-
corruptible purity of his own heart.
Men can only brave public criti-
cism surely and serenely in propor-
tion as they are right. Righteous-
ness is peace.

17 When Jesus heard it he saith unto them,
They that are whole have no need of the phy-
sician, but they that are sick: I came not to
call the righteous but sinners to repentance.

Jesus hears all the objections
that are urged against him. He
sees all the objections that are in
the heart before they are formed
into words. Of him it may be
said, " Thou knowest my thought
afar off." Jesus Christ does not
look upon one opinion as secret

A hlomiletic Analysis

59

and another as public : to him the
whole history of human life is an
open page, on which the noonday
sun is shining. Jesus Christ has
an instant answer to all objections :
witness the case in point. From
this answer we may see^ — (i) Duty
of doing good avowedly — not going
about it in an indirect manner as if
we were making an experiment,
but boldly and distinctly, approach-
ing it with a set purpose of spend-
ing our best energy upon it. (2)
"We may see it to be our duty to go
to those who are icast cared for. We
are only working in the line of the
Saviour's mission as we begin at
the very lowest point in the social
scale. We cannot do fundamental
and permanent good by beginning
at the top or in the middle ; Ave
must get down to springs and
causes, we must begin at the very
deepest point of human apostacy
and work our way steadily upward ;
there is a temptation even in chris-
tian work to stop short of the lowest
depth of human necessity. (3)
Jesus Christ shows it to be our
duty to associate with those whom
we seek to save : he sat with
them, he talked to them, he asked
them questions, he made himself
their personal friend, and so at-
tained over them personal supre-
macy. This practice levels a deadly
blow at the theory of doing good
by proxy. It is comparatively easy
to send other men on errands of
mercy, but we are only working in
Christ's spirit in so far as we are
prepared to^go ourselves and openly
identify our whole influence with
the cause of fallen men. Where
there is this intense personal conse-
cration there will, of course, be a
disposition to engage as much co-
operation as possible ; our duty is
to see that we do not find in co-
operation an excuse for personal

negligence. Jesus Christ answered
his opponents almost invariably by
laying down a great principle. He
did not trust to uncommon reason-
ings or work according to the special
mood of tlie day. He had intense
personal conviction, to which he
constantly referred in explanation
and defence of his ministry. Minis-
ters are only strong up to the degree
in which they know precisely what
they have come to do : Jesus Christ
said he came for the express purpose
of healing the sick and calling sin-
ners to repentance. Unity in this
as in all other things is strength.
When a man works with divided
heart his work ends in failure.

18 And the disciples of John and of the
Pharisees used to fast : and they come and say
unto him, Why do the disciples of John and of
the Pharisees fast, but thy disciples fast not ?

19 And Jesus said unto them, Can the
children of the bridechamber fast, while the
bridegroom is with them ? as long as they have
the bridegroom with them they cannot fast.

20 But the days will come when the bride-
groom shall be taken away from them and then
shall they fast in those days.

21 No man also seweth a p'cce of new
cloth on an old garment : else the new piece
that filled it up taketh away from the old, and
the rent is made worse.

22 And no man piitteth new wine into old
bottles : else the new wine doth burst the bot-
tles, and the wine is spilled, and the bottles
will be marred : but new wine must be put
into new bottles.

(i) There should he difference
between Jesus Christ's disciples and
the disciples of all other men. It
is noticeable how soon those differ-
ences were detected by the critics
of the day. The differences should be
as broadly marked now as they were
in the days of Jesus Christ's visible
ministry. (2) Those differences
should find their explanation in
Jesus Christ, not in the expression
of the disciples themselves. Jesus
Christ takes upon himself the res-
ponsibility of determining the public
attitude of his disciples. They

6o

A tiomiletic Analysis

must be joyful or sad according to
the spirit which he puts into them or
the temporary disciphne to which he
subjects them. There is a time
when it is right for the disciples to
be glad and triumphant, joyful as
men who are at a wedding feast in
the presence of the bridegroom ;
there is also a time in which they
must just bow down their heads in
pensiveness and sad wonder about
the future. The difficulty in many
cases is for the heart to realize that
alike in joy and in sorrow, it may
be working out the beneficent pur-
poses of the Saviour. (3) The
illustration about pieces of cloth
and the different wines shows the
perfect uniqueness of Christianity :
there is to be no patching, there is
to be no compromising, Christianity
is to have a distinctiveness and speci-
ality of its own : the ancient make
and the modern variation are not
to be put together as part and par-
cel of christian truth, Christianity is
to stand out alone complete in its
indivisible and perfect unity. In
this case again we see how Jesus
Christ throws himself back upon
great principles, and finds in the
simplicity of nature and the integ-
rity of truth the surest defence of
his church.

23 And it came to pass, that he went
through the corn fields on the sabbath day, and
his disciples began, as they went, to pluck the
ears of corn.

24. And the Pharisees said unto him,
Behold, why do they on the sabbath day that
which is not lawful ?

25 And he said unto them, Have ye never
read what David did, when he had need, and
was an hungered, he, and they that were with
him ?

26 How he went into the house of God in
the days of Abiathar the high priest, and did
eat the shewbread, which is not lawful to eat
but for the priests, and gave also to them
which were with him ?

27 And he said unto them. The sabbath
was made for man, and not man for the sabbath :

28 Therefore the son of Man is Lord also
of the sabbath.

Jesus is still living under the fire
of criticism already referred to. In
this particular interview it is made
clear — (i) That all critical inquiries
are not to be condemned. This
question on the part of the Phari-
sees was not at all unnatural. Men
ought to be called upon to give
explanations of habits that are op-
posed to the public sentiment and
usages of their times. Jesus Christ
does not resent the inquiry as if it
proceeded from a wicked spirit.
Let it be inferred from this that
there are right questions to be put
concerning the christian religion and
the practice of christians. There
are questions that are bad in their
spirit and bad in their purposes,
there are also questions which come
([uite naturally out of the extraor-
dinary' development of christian
conviction and impulse. Jesus
Christ shows by his answers that he
considered human life to be above
all technical law. The disciples
were an hungered as they passed
through the corn fields. David was
an hungered when he ate the shew-
bred ; there are courses in human
life when men are apparently or
really lifted above the current of
law and usage, and when life be-
comes to itself a determining law.
(2) The perfect and inalienable
supremacy of Jesus Christ is assert-
ed in the last verse. He proclaims
himself Lord over time, over institu-
tions and over human affairs. This
great claim is not to be overlooked
in estimating the dignity of Jesus
Christ's personal ministry. Could
any mere man have proclaimed his
lordship over the Sabbath day ?
a man can not be Lord of the
Sabbath without being Lord of
something beyond. God does not
distributejthese lordships, the Lord
of the Sabbath is also the Lord of
Hosts.

REPORT OF A DISCOURSE DELIVERED BY

JOSEPH PARKER,

In Poultry Chapel, on Thursday Morning, February i, 1871.
(the sixty-fifth noonday service.)

THE INVOCATION.
Merciful One, we hasten to shelter ourselves in the sanctuary of Thy love. In the pavilion
of God we shall find defence and rest. We live upon mercy. We depend upon compassion.
Thy mercies are new every morning, and as for Thy compassions they never fail. To-day
may we know more than ever the sweetness of Thy mercy. Help us to see its beauteous
threads in all the web of our lives, and specially help us to see its amazing sublimity in the
Cross of Thy dear Son. God be merciful unto us and bless us ! God be merciful unto us
sinners ! Whilst we meditate upon Thy mercies may our hearts burn within us, and may all
our best vows be repeated. Our sins are many, yet in the sea of Thy love as. revealed in
Jesus Christ, they may be swallowed up, never more to be found. Behold us at the Cross, —
see our trust in the dying Priest who in the fulness of his love became the bleeding Sacrifice,
and when Thou seest Lord forgive ! Unto the Father, the Son, the Holy Ghost, in whose
threefold name our poor names were pronounced in baptism, be the kingdom, the power, and
the glory, world without end. Amen.

PROFITABLE DISCIPLINE.

" It is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not.
They are new every morning ; great is thy faithhilness." — Lamentations, ih., 22, 23.

IIHOUGH I have read these words specifically as the text, yet

my purpose includes a reference to the verses with which the

chapter opens. Taking the opening of the chapter, along with

the portion which has just been read, we seem to find a good

deal of inconsistency, and in fact positive contradiction. Spiritual

62 The City Temple

experience must be looked at as a whole. It is not right to fix attention
either upon this side or upon that, to the exclusion and the forgetfulness
of the other. One side is very dark and full of sadness, sharply inclined
towards despair ; the other is brighter than the summer morning, tune-
ful, sunned with all the lustre of saintly hope : so we must take the night
with the morning, if we would have the complete day. Jeremiah had
rare power in sounding the depths of disciplinary sorrow. He walked
familiarly through the chambers of dark dispensations : life was often to
Jeremiah little better than a thunder-gloom : hence he often had to find
his way by fitful gleams of lightning rather than by the clear and steady
shining of the sun. It does us good now and then to talk to such a man.
The soul cannot always live in laughter ; the man who has seen much
sorrow, and turned it to a right use, will help us more in all that is
deepest and truest in our nature than the man who has always lived mirth-
fully, and who does not know what it is to have sorrow, a black and
exacting guest, tenanting and tormenting his soul. He is not a man who
has never had a trial or a sorrow. He knows little who has not received a
great deal of his learning through the dimness of his tears. We do not
read the deepest of God's words, and the tenderest of his messages,
when there is no cloud in the sky, when the morning is bright and blue
and lustrous, and there is no intercepting cloud. God 'often lowers his
voice to a whisper when the heart-broken feel that the clouds are
very many and the way crooked and extremely perilous. When
Jeremiah does laugh his joy will be rich and full ; when he does sing
he will fill heaven and earth with his resounding joy. No man can be
truly joyful who has not been deeply, heart-brokenly sorrowful. It
should be pointed out that depression is not an exclusively religious
state. It might be supposed fi:om a great deal that one hears, that not
until we become religious do we become depressed ; not until we love
and follow God do we know what is meant by heart-sinking and
stealthy walking in perilous places. This is a mistake from beginning
to end. You may find depression in all the conditions of life that are
healthy. Sometimes the painter cannot paint with his soul ; his hand
has lost its cunning, because his spirit has lost the key of mystery and
has no vision of the invisible. Sometimes the poet cannot sing ; he
cannot read the parable of nature, nor construe the language of the
fretted shadows, nor detain the sweet spirit which fcaptises the dreaming
soul at the fount of God. To painter and poet the world often becomes
dark at noontide ; beauty retires and music ceases, when painter and
poet would give half their living to retain those twin angels in their
heart's confidence. The fact is, that religious spirits are most depressed
simply because they are most exalted. Where you find the highest
mountains you find the deepest valleys. In proportion to the range
and spirituality of the world in which a man lives will be the pensive-
ness and gloom of his occasional hours. If the poet droops when his
harp does not respond to his touch, how must the soul faint when God
hides himself ? If the timid child moans because his chamber light has
gone out, with what bitterness of complaint should we speak if the sun
were extinguished ? If men say they are never depressed, that they are
always in high spirits, it is probably because they never were really in

Profitable Discipline 6^

high spirits at all — not knowing the difference between the soul's rap-
ture, mental and spiritual ecstasy, and merely animal excitement. What
can the barn-door fowl know of the experiences of a disabled eagle ?
The man who is breaking stones on the highway may never be de-
pressed, but his elder stone-breaking brother, who moulds marble into
angels, may often sigh for a clearer light and a daintier touch. So every-
thing depends upon the world we live in ; and depend upon it, there is
something wrong with a man somewhere if he be always in the same
high key. No year that God ever made was made from beginning to
end of July.

This is a very wonderful strain of talk on the part of the lamenting
Jeremiah. I have gathered together lines out of his third chapter, and
put them into couplets ; and you will see what very startling and
pathetic contrasts may be made out of his complaint. Let us hear
Jeremiah : —

" I am the man that hath seen affliction by the rod of his wrath ;
It is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed.

He turncth his hand against me all the day :
His compassions are new every morning.

When I cry and shout he shutteth out my prayer ;
The Lord is good unto the soul that seeketh him.

He hath pulled me in pieces ; He hath made me desolate ;
He doth not afflict willingly nor grieve the children of men."

These are the contradictory experiences of the same soul. Such are the
night and morning of a man's spirit in its relations to Almighty God !
Here is a man who is saying that God is turned against him all the day.
Then we say we shall have nothing to do with a God so exacting and so
terrible as that ; and he detains us, recalls us, ere yet we have moved
away from him by saying, " His mercies, compassions are new every
morning." So you must never break off at a semicolon. You might
read lines in this chapter and say, " God hath treated Jeremiah with
great unfatherliness." But let him finish his sentences, sphere off his
utterance, and when he has done so, you may judge of his speech as
a whole. " I am the man that hath seen affliction by the rod of his wrath ;
his compassions fail not."

Here are two men having a little talk about a district of country
through which they have passed. One of the men's speech is this, " It
is a poor, desolate, barren land ; I never wish to go through that district
of country again, it is so featureless, wanting undulation and variety, and
that brokenness of line which delights an artistic eye, defective in colour-
ing too, — it is altogether a poor -wretched piece of country. I don't care
ever to retrace my steps over it." The other man's speech is this, "I don't
know a piece of lovelier country anywhere, the undulation is so easy, the
lines are so beautifully broken up, there is such pleasing variety, you have
all the features that can enter into a piece of beautiful landscape on a
small scale, — not to be romantic, I don't know any lovelier part of
English scenery." " Why ! " you say, " the fact is that both these state-
ments can't be true, — either the one man or the other is mistaken : they
contradict each other flatly, and theretore both their statements can't be

64 The City Temple

true." A third man puts this question, " When did you go through that
district ? " " Why, sir," the first man says, " I went through it in
November, one of the foggiest, murkiest days that I ever found in the
EngHsh chmate." " When did you go through the district?" is the enquiry
puttothe second man ; and he says, "I went through itabout Midsummer,
and a loveUer day I think never shone upon the island." Now we begin
to see a httle, at least, as to how the discrepancy came. A great deal
depends upon atmosphere. The mountains are there in the night-time,
but you can't see them. The rich, verdant flowery meads are there at
midnight, but you can't light up the landscape with your little candle.
You must have the medium as well as the object. A great deal
depends upon the clearness of the atmosphere as to whether we appre-
ciate this object or that in natural scenery. So it is with souls. A
good many of us seem to have long winters, short days, poor artificial
light, murky, gloomy dispiriting weather, cruel fogs, like this we have
to-day. Others of us have more sunshine, more summer weather in the
soul. But what we want to understand is this : — That religion, right
relations with God, a true standing before the Almighty, does not de-
pend upon this feeling or upon that ; it is not a question of climate,
atmosphere, air, spirits : it is a question of fact. The question is not,
How do you feel to-day ? But, Where are you standing ? are you on
the rock ? The rock won't change ; the climate will. Be right in your
foundation, and the season of rejoicing will come round again. But so
many people are occupied with the question of mere experience of
feeling, that they are apt to forget that the primary question, the vital
question, is, the soul's relation to God at the foot of the Cross.
Where there is an established standing upon the Rock of Ages,
the foundation laid in Zion, there will be carefulness of judg-
ment, patience of waiting, in relation to all climatic annoyances
and all the atmospheric variations of the soul's feeling. He who
is right in his principles will come right in his feelings. He who
lays hold of God by the truth that is in Christ Jesus will patiently,
quietly and successfully wait for the incoming of the dazzling glory of
the sun. And yet I' wish to speak with discrimination, with judgment,
perhaps with severity, but only with the severity of truth, about this
question of depression and feeling. There is a depression which admits
of explanation. Here is a man who in the time of trial succumbed ; he
spoke the coward's word when he ought to have been resolute. He was
timid, not with modesty, but with cowardice. Here is a man who has
been rolling iniquity under his tongue as a sweet morsel, — rolling that
iniquity under his tongue in the very act of singing hymns and uttering
the words of formal prayer. Here is a man who has some evil purpose
in his heart, luxuriating over prospects on which God's disapprobation
rests like an immovable frown. He has been planning forbidden en-
joyment, scheming pleasures at the expense of conviction, conscience,
righteousness, and christian standing, and he comes in here to-day in a
depressed state of mind. Thank God ! If that man could be as joyful
as the pure little child-heart in Christ's kingdom, then God hath for-
gotten to be judge, and there is no righteousness in his law. The
question therefore is, Can our depression be traced to moral causes ?

Profitable Discipline . dK^

Have I been keeping false weights and balances ? Have I been
clever at the expense of virtue and righteousness ? Have I been
untrue to my vows, faithless to my professions ? Then I have no right
to expect anything but depression, and if I were not depressed there
would be something wrong in the moral government of the world. Yes,
and a m an may be depressed though he may be showing at the time
great animal exultation ; but there is a ring about honest excitement
and true joy which is not to be mistaken by practised ears. Many a
man seeks to drown his conscience and to dismiss his depression by
overstrained religious excitement, and he can't do it. The ghost is
there! He hangs up a veil before the. spectre, and says, " Now it is
gone, I shall be at ease." He takes up the veil. Behold ! there it is —
grim, grizzly, ghastly, with judgment written upon every lineament. And
it is well that a man cannot dismiss these memories, these presences,
that ought to be to him terrible as the light, awful as the judgment
of God.

Now taking Jeremiah's experiences as a whole, what do we find that
sanctified sorrow had Avrought in him ? In the first place it gave him a
true view of divine government. Jeremiah was brought to understand
two things about the government of God. He was brought to under-
stand that God's government is tender. The word tenderness we do not
very well connect with the word government. When we think of govern-
ment, we think of something severe, stern, inflexible, unyielding, imperial,
majestic, magnificent, dominating. AVell, but that is only half a truth so
far as the government of God is concerned. What words do you suppose
Jeremiah connected with the government of God? Why these tv\'0
beautiful words, each a piece of music, "Mercies," ''Compassions."
A man can only get into that view of government by living the deepest
possible life. We are always jealous when we find sentiment entering
into governmental relations and governmental decisions. But, here is
God, Almighty God, and all tender, ruling with infinite majesty, stooping
with more than motherly grace. God's government is not composed of
huge unsympathetic, tearless strength. A God all Strength would be a
monster. A God throned on ivory, ruling the universe with a sceptre of
mere power, could never establish himself in the confidence and love and
trust of his creatures. We might fear him, but when we got together in
some corner where his face was excluded for a moment, we should
turn round upon him with many execrations ! Man can't be ruled and
governed by mere power, fear, overwhelming, dominating, crushing
strength and force. So we find David saying, " Power belongeth unto
God, unto thee also, O Lord, belongeth mercy." Power in the hands
of mercy, omnipotence impregnated by all the tenderness of pity. "This
is the God we adore, our faitliful unchangeable friend." That preach-
ing would be untrue, one-sided, misleading, which dwelt entirely upon
the regal, majestic aspect of God. That is the true exposition of divine
nature which opens up the fatherliness, motherhness, mercifulness and
compassion of God's great heart.

This discipline wrought in Jeremiah the conviction that God's
government was minute. ISpeaking of God's mercies he says, " they are
F 2

()G The City Temple

new every morning." Morning mercies, — daily bread. This is what we
find in the Old Testament, and in the New ; but the Old Testament
saints seemed only to be able to get from one morning to another, just
the clock once round, and then they wanted more. New every morning !
A beautiful word in the Old Testament is that, and we get in the New
Testament, — What ? Daily bread, new every iveek, new every year ?
No. " Give us this day our daily bread." That is it. God shutting us
up within a day and training us a moment at a time. The Psalmist said,
" thy mercies have been ever of old." And another singer said, " thy
mercies are new every morning." Is there no contradiction there ?
Ever of old — every morning ! Time is old : every morning is new.
Existence comprises a long, long succesion of years, but no year ever had
an old May given to it, or an old June thrown into it. Thy mercies
have been ever of old, and they have been new every morning. Old as
duration, new as morning ; old as human existence, new as the coming
summer. These are all inconsistences that mark our life. Age and in-
firmity, the ancient of days, the child of Bethlehem ; the root out of the
dry ground, the rose of Sharon, the lily of the valley ; the despised
and rejected of men but the desire of all nations. And you can't grasp
the contradictions and inconsistences till you have been closeted long
with God and got to know something of the mysteriousness of his dear
heart.

Then Jeremiah liaving given us this view of the divine government,
gives us two notions about human discipline as regulated by God the
Judge and God the Father. He tells us two things about discipline.
He tells us, in the first place, the goodness of waiting : it is good for a
man to wait. It does one good to have a lesson of that sort from a
grey-headed and wainkled-browed man, to have a word from a man who
has come out of very dangerous and terrible places. One wishes to get
near him the very first moment, and say, " Well, what is it? what have
you to say to us now?" And Jeremiah coming up, crushed, sorrowful,
heart-wrinkled, pained, says to the young people who are at the door,
" Don't enter yet. It is good, my children, to wait."- That is the lesson
to us. We don't like to wait : impatient because incomplete. Observe
you : wait for God. I am not called upon to wait because somebody
has put a great waggon across the road ; I might get that out of the
way. But if God hath set an angel there, I must make distinctions.
There is a waiting that is indolence ; there is a waiting that is sheer
faithlessness ; there is a waiting that comes of weakness. This is the
true waiting, — wanting to get on, resolute about progress, and yet
having a notion that God is just before us there teaching patience. A
determination to go, yet a willingness to stand still, — that is the mystery
of true waiting.

And then Jeremiah tells us this second thing about the divine
government. It is good for a man to bear the yoke. Ephraim like a
bullock bemoaned himself; the yoke was very hea\y on the shoulder ;
he was as a bullock unaccustomed to the yoke, and he chafed sorely
under it, complained and moaned ; but by and by the yoke was worn
with ease. And then God came and said, " Ephraim is my dear child."

Profitable Discipline 67

God puts yokes upon us, heavy yokes upon our necks ; sometimes he
binds our hands in manacles, and our feet in fetters, — shuts us up and
feeds us on bread of affliction and water of affliction ; then we say, " this
can't be good for us." But it is. Commend me to the man who has been
through deep v/aters, through very dark places, through treacherous
serpent-haunted roads, and who has yet come out with a cheerful heart,
mellow, chastened, subdued, and who speaks tenderly of the mercy of
God through it all. And that man I may trust with my heart's life. If he
speak not words which to my natural taste are best and sweetest and
most to be coveted, yet under all his instruction there is a divine mystery,
a fatherly tenderness ; and it is better to yield to the remonstrance and
instruction of such a man than be driven with great urgency and made
impatient by a creature who never knew what it was to have a heart
torn in two and the prospects of his life clouded and smitten.

Now some of us have given way, my dear friends, to an abuse of
divine discipline, and so we get worse and worse. A right accept-
ance of God's schooling, God's rod, God's judgment, and God's mercy,
mingled together, will cause us to become learned in divine wisdom,
tender in divine feeling, gentle and charitable in all social judgment ;
good men whilst we are here, and alway waiting, even in the midst of
our most diligent service, to be called up into the more fully revealed
presence and the still more cloudless light. May all our discipline be
to that end ! Amen.

68

The City Temple

A HOMILETIC ANALYSIS

OF THE

©Gospel t>B Mmk.

CHAPTER III.

1 And he entered again into the synagogue ;
and there was a man there which had a withered
hand.

2 And they watched him, whether he would
heal him on the sabbath day: that they might
accuse him.

3 And he saith unto the man which had the
withered hand, Stand forth.

4 And he saith unto them, Is it lawful to
do good on the sabbath days, or to do evil? to
save life, or to kill? But they held their peace.

5 And when he had looked round about
on them with anger, being grieved for the
hardness of their hearts, he saith unto the man,
Stretch forth thine hand. And he stretched it
out and his hand was restored whole as the
other.

(i) Christ's detection of human
incompleteness. He instantly discov-
ered that there was a man in the
synagogue with a withered hand.
The tnusician instantly detects a
false note ; the painter instantly
detects an inartistic line ; the co?n-
plete Christ instantly detects the
incomplete man. (2) Jesus Christ's
power over partial disease. The
man had only a withered hand. In
In some cases Christ had to heal
thoroughly diseased men, in this
case the disease was local ; yet in
both instances his power was the
same. (3) Christ's inability to heal
the obstinacy of his enemies. Here
we come into the moral region, where
all power is limited and where om-
nipotence itself can work effectually
only by the consent of the human
will. A series of contrasts may be
drawn in connection with this point.

Christ could raise dead bodies ; but
dead souls had first to be willing to
be raised. Christ could quell the
storm on the sea, but he could not
quiet the tumult of rebellious hearts.
(4) Christ's moral indignation over-
coming all outward obstacles. He
was indignant with the men who
valued the sacredness of a day
above the sacredness of a human
life. Herein he showed the intense
benevolence of his mission. Every-
thing was to give way to the
importunity of the wants of
men. An important point is in-
volved in the question which Jesus
Christ puts in the fourth verse, viz.
7iot to do good is actually to do
evil.

The instance shows Christ's care-
fulness over individual life. There
was only one man, yet Jesus Christ
gave that solitary sufferer the full
benefit of his omnipotence. The
Gospel is a revelation of God's love
to individual men.

There* are special jnoral deform-
ities as well as special bodily
diseases. Some christians have
withered hands, or defective vision,
or one-sided sympathies, imperfect
tempers, or faulty habits. Christ
alone can heal such diseases.

All kinds of sufferers ought to
associate the synagogue, the sanct-
uary, with their best hopes. It
should be a place of healing, and

A Homiletk Analysis

69

of instruction, and of all holy
stimulus.

6 And the Pharisees went forth, and
straightway took counsel witii the Herodians
against him, how they might destroy him.

This verse shows the working of
three determined and most mis-
chievous powers; (i) The power
of prejudice; (2) The power of
technicality; (3) The power of 4''«^'''-
ancc. Prejudice as against Christ :
technicality v^s opposed to humanity:
ignorance as forgetful of the fact
that in morals as well as in physics
the greater includes the less.
Sabbath-keeping is less than man-
healing.

7 But Jesus withdrew himself with his
disciples to the sea: and a great multitude from
Galilee followed him, and from Juda;a.

8 And from Jerusalem, and from Idumaea,
and from beyond Jordan; and they about Tyre
aud Sidon, a great nudtitude, when they had
heard what great things he did, came unto him.

(i) There is a time to withdraw
from opponents ; (2) Withdraw-
ment is not necescarily the result
of cowardice ; (3) Withdrawment
from one sphere ought to be fol-
lowed by entrance into another.

Great things draw great multi-
tudes. How did Christ exercise
his influence over great throngs ?
(i) He never lowered the moral
tone of his teaching ; (2) He was
never unequal to the increasing de-
mands made upon his power ; (3)
He never requested the multitude
to help him in any selfish endea-
vours.

No subject can drazv such great
multitudes as the gospel. No sub-
ject can so deeply affect great multi-
tudes as the gospel. No subject
can so profoundly and lastingly
bless great multitudes as the gospel.

9 And he spake to his disciples, that a
small ship should wait on him because of the
multitude, lest they should throng him.

10 For he had healed many: insomuch that
they pressed upon him for to touch him, as
many as had plagues.

1 1 And unclean spirits, when they saw him
fell down before him, and cried, saying, Thou
art die Son of God.

13 And he straitly charged them that they
should not make him known.

(i) Whoever has power to satisfy
human necessities will never be in
want of applicants. This is most
obvious in the case of bodily suffer-
ing, but the principle holds good in
reference to the deepest wants ot
human nature. (2) Unclean spirits
may pay compliments to the good
with changing their own disposition.
(3) Unclean spirits are always com-
manded as in this case not to
attempt the revelation of Christ,
In the instance before us there was
of course a special reason for the
injunction ; but the principle is
applicable to the whole subject of
teaching and interpreting Christ and
His doctrine.

13 And he goeth up into a mountain, and
calleth unto him whom he would: and they
came unto him.

14 And he ordained twelve, that they
should be with him, and that he might send
them forth to preach.

1 5 And to have power to heal sicknesses,
and to cast out devils.

16 And Simon he surnamed Peter.

17 And James the son of Zebedee, and John
the brother of James; and he surnamed them
Boanerges, which is, The sons of thunder.

18 And Andrew, and Philip, and Bartholo-
mew, and Matthew, and Thomas, and James,
the son of Alph.'Eus, and Thadd.^us, and Simon
the Canaanite,

19 And Judas Iscariot, which also betrayed
him: and they went into an house.

20 And the multitnde cometh together
again, so that they could not so much as eat
bread.

This paragraph may be used as
shewing The beginnings of the Christ-
ian Ministry, (i) The Christian
Ministry is an organizatiofi ; (2)
the Christian Ministry is divinely
selected; (a) a warning io pretenders;
(b) an encouragement to true

70

The City Temple

servants; (c) a guarantee oi adapta-
tion and success. (3) The Christian
Ministry is invested with special
powers. The Avork of the ministry
is to heal and bless mankind. This
work can be fully sustained only by
close communion with Him who
gave the power. Jesus Christ does
not give even to ministers power
for more than the immediate
occasion. They must renew their
appeals day by day. To them as to
all the church applies the admoni-
tion— '"Pray without ceasing."

Amongst the general remarks
which may be made upon the sub-
ject are the following; (i) Some
ministers are marked by special
characteristics, as for example —
Peter and James and John. {2)
Some ministers are more prominent
than others. One or two of the
names in this list are prominently
illustrious, others are comparatively
obscure. (3) The principal fact to
determine is not a question of fame,
but a question of vocation; whom
Christ has called to the ministry
He will also accord appropriate
honour.

On the 19th verse, remark (i)
the possibility of debasing a divine
position; (2) the impossibility of
detaching the stigma of unfaithful-
ness. The name of Judas will
always be associated with the
betrayal, and the name of Simon
Peter will always bring to memory
his denial of his Lord.

21 And when his friends heard of it, they
went out to lay hold on him: for they said, He
is beside himself.

The abuses of friendship, (i)
Friendship unable to follow the
highest moods of the soul. (2)
Friendship unable to see the spirit-
ual meaning of outward circum-
stances. (3) Friendship seeking to
interfere with spiritual usefulness.
(4) Friendship seeking to reduce

life to common-place order. The
sincere servant of Jesus Christ will
take his law from the Master and
not from public opinion. The most
complete detachment from worldly
considerations and pursuits is ne-
cessary to sustain the soul when
friendship itself becomes an assail-
ant. The misinterpretation of our
conduct by frieiicily critics often
occasions the severest pain which
is inflicted upon our spiritual life.
The hand of enmity may be con-
cealed within the glove of friend-
ship.

22 And the scribes which came down from
Jerusalem said, He hath Beelzebub, and by the
prince of devils casteth he out devils.

23 And he called them unto him, and said
unto them in parables, How can Satan cast out
Satan?

24 And if a kingdom be divided against
itself, that kingdom cannot stand.

25 And if a house be divided against itself,
that house cannot stand.

26 And if Satan saise up against himself,
and be divided, he cannot stand, but hath an
end.

Christ now encounters open
hostility in addition to friendly,
though mischievous, remonstrance.
A theory of explanation was pro-
posed by the Scribes. Christ's
answer to that theory shews (i)
that the opinions of leading minds
may be entirely fallacious; and (2)
that common sense often suggests
the best answer to fanciful theories
respecting the work of Christ.
Christ's whole answer turned upon
the common sense of His position.
He does not plead authority ; nor
does he plead exemption from the
ordinary laws of thought and ser-
vice ; He simply puts in the plea
of common sense. This fact sup-
plies the basis for a discourse upon
The relatio7i of common sense to the
Gospel. The Gospel may in this
respect be likened to Jacob's ladder,
the foot of which was upon the
earth, The Gospel has its peculiar

A Uomiletic Analysis

71

mysteries, and its light too brilliant
for the naked eye ; at the same
time it has aspects and bearings
admitting of the most vivid illustra-
tion and defence within the region
accessible to all minds ; on the
other hand the paragraph shews
(i) the blinding power of religious
prejudice; and (2) the utter reckless-
ness of religious bigotry. With re-
gard to the suggestion of the Scribes
it should be remembered (i) that
bold theories are not necessarily
true ; and (2) that the espousal of
untrue theories will end in the
confusion and humiliation of the
theorists.

27 No man can enter into a strong man's
house, and spoil his goods, except he will first
bind the strong man; and then he will spoil his
house.

Human life as affected by two
different forces, (i) The strong
enemy; (2) The strong friend.
It is important to recognize
the strength of the enemy be-
cause it may be supposed that
little or no effort is required to en-
counter his assaults. It should always
be pointed out that Jesus Christ
never speaks with hesitation as to
the results of his repulse of the enemy.
He ever represents himself as cloth-
ed with more then sufficiency of
power. In the text he is set forth
as spoiling the strong man. It was
prophesied that he should biaiise
the serpent's head.

Application : (i) Man must be
under one or other of these forces, —
the enemy or the friend. (2) Those
who continue under the devil will
share the ruin to which he is doom-
ed. When Satan's head is bruised
all who are in satan's empire will
be crushed.

28 Verily I say unto you, All sins shall be
forgiven unto the sons of men, and blasphemies
wherewith soever they shall blaspheme;

29 But he tliat shall blaspheme against the
Holy Ghost hath never forgiveness, but is in
danger of eternal damnation:

30 Because they £aid. He hath an unclean
spirit.

Tischendorf reads the thirtieth
verse "in danger of the eternal sin."
Two aspects of human probation ;
(i) the pardonable, (2) the unpar-
donable, (i) The pardonable, (a)
Its great extent, "all sins,"&c; (b)
the implied gi-eatness of the divine
mercy. (2) The unpardonable : (a)
its intense spirituality : (b) its per-
fect reasonaljleness. To sin against
the spirit is to cut away the only
foundation on which the sinner can
stand. Christianity is the appeal of
God's spirit to man's spirit : men
may sin against the letter, the form,
the dogma, and yet be within the
pale of forgiveness ; but when they
revile and defy the very spirit of God
they cut themselves off from the cur-
rent of divine communion.

3 1 There came then his bretheren and his
mother, and, standing without, sent unto him,
calling him.

32 And the multitude sat about him, and
they said unto him, Behold, thy mother and
thy bretheren without seek for thee.

33 And he answered them, saying, Who
is my mother, or my bretheren ?

34 And he looked round about on them
which sat about him, and said, Behold my
mother and my brethren !

35 For whosoever shall do the will of God,
the same is my brother, and my sister, and
mother.

(i) The spirituality of Christ's
relationships. The kinship of the
body is held subordinate to the
kinship of the spirit. (2) The tme
bond of communion with Christ :
(a) not merely natural : (b) not
merely social. What is the true
bond of communion with Christ ?
Obedience to Gods will, (a) There
is but one infallible will ; (b) that
will appeals for universal obedi-
ence,— "whosoever." (3) The priv-
ileges resulting from communion

72

The City Temple

with Christ, (a) Intimate relation-
ship,— mother, sister, brother ; (b)
social communion ; this is the
family idea.

Among the general inferences
which may be drawn from this pas-
sage are the loUowing : (i) If men
are to obey the divine will a great

change must pass upon their natural
dispositions. (2) If our communion
with Christ is spiritual it will be
eternal. (3) If all the good are
Christ's kindred they are the kin-
dred of one another and ought
therefore to live in the spirit of
brotherhood.

CHAPTER IV

The parable of the sower has
already been analyzed in the 13th
chapter of the Gospel by Matthew.
We therefore add merely a few
general notes, (i) The sower is
human : the seed is divine. (2)
Even divine influences ar'e affected
by human conditions, — "wayside,"
"stony ground," &c. (3) Even
where those conditions dixefavoiirablc
there will be difference of spiritual
product, — thirty, sixty, and a hun-
dred-fold.

Each class of hearers may be
specially treated —

Wayside : Opportunity given :
Opportunity lost : A constantly
watchful enemy.

Stony ground : Impulsiveness :
Shallowness : Want of conviction
and fortitude.

Thorns : Mental preoccupation :
Thoughtlessness : Worldlyminded-
ness.

Good ground : Moral prepara-
tion : Earnestness : Visible reward
in fruitfulness, which reward is to
constitute the most evident proof
of the reality of the divine life in
the soul.

The whole parable may be used
as shewing the operation of four
powerful influences in human life,
(i) The influence of the devil as
seen in the wayside hearers. (2)
The influence of frivolity as seen
in the stony ground hearers. (3)
The influence of worldliness as seen

in the thorny ground hearers. (4)
The influence of earnestness as
seen in the good ground hearers.

21 And he said untd- them, Is a candle
brought to be put under a bushel, or under
a bed ? and not to be set on a candlestick ?

23 For there is nothing hid, which shall not
be manifested ; neither was any thing kept
secret, but that it should come abroad.

23 If any man have ears to hear, let him
hear.

24 And he said unto them, Take heed what
ye hear : with what measure ye mete, it shall
be measured to you : and unto you that hear
shall more be given.

25 For he that hath, to him shall be given :
and he that hath not, from him shall be taken
even that which he hath.

The subject is : Christian life
viewed as a revelation., a responsibili-
ty., and a law.

I. As a REVELATION : (a) it is
to be luminous : (b) it is to be pro-
perly placed in the midst of society.
The gospel is a great revealing
power. In all truth there is power
of exposure and judgment; how
much more in the highest truth
of all.

II. As a responsibility : (a)
Stewardship in doctrine ; (b) Stew-
ardship in action.

III. As a LAW : (a) Usefulness
is productiveness ; (b) Indolence
is ruin.

The kingdom of Christ is thus
shown to be founded on law. Man
never becomes more than a sub-
ject : Christ never less than a king.

The City Temple.

THOMAS ARCHER, D.D.

E have been gi"eatly interested in the Memoir of this eloquent
divine as written by the Rev. Dr. Macfarlane, of Clapham,
The work is pubUshed by Nisbet and Co. The biographer
has occupied only ten chapters, but every line bears upon the
subject in hand, so that the work is distinguished by continuous and
highly sustained interest. Dr. Archer was for thirty-three years the
Minister of the United Presbyterian Congregation assembling in
Oxendon Chapel, London. He entered most heartily into the multi-
farious work of a Christian public man in the Metropolis. To a large
extent his life was spent in the pulpit and on the platform. Men who
have but slender claims to be considered eloquent are often put into
proininent places at London anniversaries ; but as Dr. Archer's claims
were many and strong, and his spirit such as to inspire the confidence
of miscellaneous assemblies, his career for some years was one of in-
cessant excitement. To a strong head he added a heart of uncommon
richness and fervour, and all that was within him could command the
service of the most fluent and vigorous speech. Under such circum-
stances it is not to be wondered at that Dr. Archer did more work in
the single month of May than many other men did in the whole year.
Dr. Macfarlane wisely points out the unsectarian spirit and habits of
his subject ; this is very important, as helping to bring together men
who are separated from each other by very thin denominational parti-
tions. It is probable that Dr. Archer himself might long have
remained unknown by Metropolitan Congregationalists had not a dis-
tinguished Independent minister in London sought his services in an
emergency. Dr. Archer's ministerial and pastoral habits, as sketched
by the skilful hand of his biographer, are such as ought to be made
known to every student for the ministry. His conscientiousness in
preparation, his zeal in attending to claims made upon his pastoral
solicitude, and the anxious attention which he bestowed upon the
intellectual and spiritual culture of the young, we' have never known
excelled by any servant of God. Though his talents were popular and
his tongue was as the pen of a ready writer, yet he seems to have
bestowed upon his preparations a minuteness of care which proves alike
the soundness of his judgment and the sensitiveness of his conscience.
We should greatly like all young men who have the ministry in view
G

74 27/^ City Temple

to read again and again Dr. Macfarlane's chapters upon the
Pulpit and the Pastorate. In reading those chapters we have been
reproved and stimulated ; we have seen how much work can be
condensed into a brief day, and how many urgent calls can be answered
by the rigid economist of time. We must not be understood as advising
all young men to pursue the exciting public course of Dr. Archer.
We rather call upon them to eschew the platform, the tea-meeting, the
committee-room, and many other scenes of approved dissipation, and to
confine themselves for the first seven years at least of their ministry
to honest and unsparing preparation for the pulpit. We thank Dr.
Macfarlane, " the old man eloquent," for a piece of most captivating
biographic writing. We have greatly enjoyed the treat which he has
provided for us ; and we cannot doubt that thousands beyond the pale
of the United Presbyterian Church will share our gratitude when they
read his compact and instructive biography of the noble-minded and
true-hearted Thomas Archer.

On Wednesday, February 8th, 187 1, we had the great pleasure of
preaching the first sermon in the Rev. Gilbert McAll's ncAv Chapel,
Rouel Road, Bermondsey. The text was i Cor., ii., 14. The sub-
stance of the sermon appears in the third number of The City Temple,
Mr. McAll's Chapel is commodious and elegant. We accept as an
omen for good the marked success which has already attended the
ministry of our brother ; and in this the day of his brightest ministerial
hopes, we pray God to establish his strength and to multiply his useful-
ness. It was delightful to see the crowd of ministers gathered around
him, and to hear how warmly they bestowed their congratulations upon
him ; — especially gratifying was it to hear his honoured father, the Rev.
Professor McAll, offer the prayer in which the building was dedicated
to the worship and glory of Almighty God.

Personal Notes. — Two or three facts may prove interesting to
some future inquirer into ministerial and church questions. The
foundation-stone of Cavendish-street Chapel, Manchester, was laid
on Wednesday, March 17th, 1847. Sunday, June nth, 1848, was
the last Sunday spent in the former chapel, situated in Mosley-street.
On July 2nd, 1848, the Rev. Dr. Halley commenced his ministry in
Cavendish-street, having spent about nine years in Mosley-street Chapel.
On Sunday, September 20th, 1857, Dr. Halley preached his farewell
sermon in Cavendish-street. On June loth, 1858, Dr. Parker
accepted the pastomte in succession to Dr. Halley. On June 27 th,
1869, Dr. Parker formally resigned the pastorate of Cavendish-street
Chapel, having on the previous day accepted a Call to Poultry Chapel,
London, " the basis" of that acceptance [according to the written
words of the Deacons, signed officially " in the name and on the behalf
of., the Church"] " being the avowed intention of the Church to
embAce the earliest appropriate opportunity to sell the property and
erect 3. noble structure on the best available site that can be obtained."

REPORT OF A DISCOURSE DEUVERED BY

JOSEPH PARKER,

In Poultry Chapel , on Thursday Mornings February 9, 187 1.
(the sixty-sixth noonday service.)

THE INVOCATION.
Almighty God, though Thou reignest in glory yet dost thou rule in I'merqr. Thotl numberest
the stars ; Thou dost also bind up the broken in heart. We will say with our fathers that
Thy mercy endureth for ever. We enter into thy house this day that we may be healed,
comforted, and instructed in the wisdom of the Lord. Do Thou give us a precious sense of
Thy nearness. May we know Thee to be at hand by reason of the peace of our conscience,
the love of our hearts, and the depth of our child-like trust in Thy strength and goodness. May
Thy word be a message of life to every soul. Lift us above the world ; deliver us from all
slavish fear ; and fully establish within us the kingdom of Thy dear Son. Blessed Christ, we
thank thee for all Thy mercy to the children of men. Continue to extend it unto us through-
out all the years of our earthly discipline and pain, and at last take us into the sanctuary where
we shall see Thee face to face. Amen.

CHRIST'S CURES.

''And, behold, there cometh one of the rulers of the synagogue, Jairus by name ; and
when he saw him, he fell at his feet, and besought him greatly, saying, My little daughter lieth
at the point of death : I pray thee, come and lay thy hands on her, that she may be healed ;
and she shall live. And Jesus went with him ; and much people followed him, and throirged
h m. And a certain woman, which had an issue of blood twelve years, and had suffered many
things of many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and was nothing better, but rather
grew worse, when she had heard of Jesus, came in the press behind, and touched his garm.ent.
For she said. If I may touch but his clothes, I shall be whole. And straightway the fountain of
her blood was dried up ; and she felt in her body that she was healed ol tbat plague. And Jesus,
immediately knowing in himself that virtue had gone out of him, turned him about in the
press, and said, Who touched my clothes ? And his disciples said unto him. Thou seest the
multitude thronging thee, and sayest thou, Who touched me ? And he looked round about to
see her that had done this thing. But the woman fearing and trembling, knowing what was
done in her, came and fell down before him, and told him all the truth. And he said unto her,
Daughter, thy faith hath made thee whole ; go in peace, and be whole of thy plague." —
Mark, v., 22 — 34.

ND behold there came one of the rulers unto Him.
This shows us the helplessness of the greatest men. The
word ruler indicates position, influence, power, personal
supremacy of one kind or another. And yet here is a ruler
coming to Jesus Christ for help. There is a point at which all human

76 The City Temple

might becomes utter weakness. We should have said if any man can
do without Christ it will be the man who bears the position and
sustains the name of ruler. Wliat is our rulership but a mockery in all
the great crises and trying passions and terrible combinations of life ?
A very pretty thing for convenience sake, useful in a social point of
view ; but when life is driven to extremity, our rulership is nothing
better to us than a nominal honour and sometimes nothing more than a
taunting mockery. Know this, then, that there is no title, no position,
no supremacy that can cut you off from the fountain of life and make
you independent of Emanuel, Son of God.

And said unto him, My daughter lieth at the point of
death, — showing us the helplessness of the kindest men. The
man before us was not only a ruler but a father ; yet ruler
and father were found at the feet of Christ. Kindness will do
more than mere power. A father will always do more than a ruler.
The ruler will work by laAV, by stipulations, by technical covenants, he
will consult the letter of the regulations and he will abide by the bond.
But the father will interpret by his heart ; he will avail himself of all the
suggestions of love ; he can't be bound by the narrowness and limita-
tions of the letter, — he does not work by the clock, he works by his
heart. Yet the father, the kindest man, came, as well as the ruler, the
greatest man. Office and nature, position and life, status and love,
will one day have to come to Jesus Christ to make out their petitions
and to urge their cases, — for even the lovingest heart, the deepest,
grandest, royalest heart, feels that it wants something beyond itself, and
that something it can only find in Emanuel, Son of God. And it is
often not until the ruler and the father have exhausted themselves that
they will come to Christ. Some old writer has well said that " God
reserves his hand for a dead lift." As long as ruler and father suppose
that anything can be done without supernatural aid, there is a prone-
ness in the human heart not to apply for supernatural help. It is not
until we are driven to our wit's end — till our staff has been broken — till
our keenest-edged instrument has been turned back — till our vessels
have been emptied, and all our resources have been consumed — that we
begin to ask if there is a power higher than our own. You never would
have been the man you are if your afflictions had not whipped you to
Christ. You would have been self-confident, boastful, obtrusive, in-
tolerant, impatient of Aveakness, if your heart had not been grieved,
smitten, impoverished, and if in the depth of your humiliation you had
not crawled — you never walked — if you had not crawled to Emanuel,
Son of God. This ruler was never so truly a ruler as when he fell on
his knees and besought Christ to help him. There is an abasement
that is exaltation. There is a humility that is the guarantee of the
surest independence.

^' And Jesus went with him." A most startling sentence. Are we
quite sure that we are reading correctly ? " And Jesus went with him."
No, — surely there is an omission here ; this is too simple, too easy. We
find here neither pomp nor circumstance. Jesus acted as though he
had been waiting all the time for this man to call upon him, and the
moment the man's voice reached his ear he turned round and went with

Christ's Cures 77

him. The true reading of the passage must be tliis : And Jesus drew
himself up into a dignified attitude and said unto the ruler, " Oh, you
have come at last ! " and turning round to the multitude he said, " See,
here is one of your great men, and you observe that he too has come in
the long run. Now I shall not go to-day, ruler ; I shall take the case
into my consideration, and should it shape itself to me in anything like
a suitable manner, I shall perhaps call upon you to-morrow." Is that
the true reading of the passage? No. It is exactly as I find
it here. And Jesus went with him. Jesus is the same yesterday,
to-day and for ever. If he has not gone with us to our houses,
it is because we have not besought him. I never read of any
man asking Christ to his house and Christ refusing to go, under
the plea of over-engagement, physical exhaustion or personal dis-
like to humble, contrite men. And to what room in the house does
Jairus ask Jesus ? He asked Jesus to a sick chamber ; to a room that
was darkened because his little girl could not bear the light ; to a
room that was guarded lest any excess of noise should give her pain.
It is often just the same with us. There are drawing-rooms in this great
Metropolis in which Christ has never set his foot, splendid dining saloons
in which the Saviour never broken bread. And yet the owners of these
sumptuous apartments, when they have a child ill or are broken down
themselves, when they darken their windows and lower their lights,
probably they will send for the Son of God up their staircases into their
bed-chambers, where they can only whisper to him and when the soul is
nearly beaten out of them ; then they will ask the Son of God to be
guest, they will entertain the Saviour with the hospitality of the sick
chamber. Men, is this right ? Do be consistent, do be thorough from
end to end of life ! If you will not ask Jesus into the drawing-room
and into the dining-room, don't ask him into the bed-chamber ! Do be
consistent. It must be a wretched thing for a man to feel that after all
he has to come to Christ. He has lived fifty years without him, and
never had a word with him, and then just at last, he thought, before
taking the fatal plunge, he would like to have a moment's interview with
the Son of God. Why not be true to yourself right through, from end
to end ? And when you stand on the plank point, and the infinite depth
is under your feet, why not lift up your dying hand, and with the
fragment of a blade, defy the power which, , by the indifference of
a lifetime, you have held in contempt ? That would be sound advice
if I looked at one side of the case only ; and yet I feel bound to
preach this : — It is better for a man bruised, crushed, with one foot
in the grave and half his soul in hell, it is better to send for Christ
after all, if happily he may be snatched from the burning and may be
made into some use in the blessed heaven and kingdom of God.

Let us learn from the readiness with which Christ responded to the
ruler's prayer, that he is to-day waiting to',hear the prayer of our hearts,
that he may instantly and graciously respond to the importunity of our
love. We are not only to ask him with our lips, we are to ask him with the
lips of our hearts ; not in an off-handed manner are we to suggest that he
may come if he feels so disposed, but with all the urgency and violence
of passion we are to beseech him to return with us and to be our guest
G 2

78 The City Temple

and our friend. If we do so all biblical history, all christian experience,
says that he will surely and instantly respond.

" And a certain woman which had an issue of blood twelve years,
and had suffered many things of many physicians, and spent all that
she had, and was nothing better but rather grew worse, when she had
heard of Jesus came in the press behind and touched his garment, for
she said, If I may but touch his clothes I shall be whole." Another case
of applying to Jesus Christ in extremity. For twelve years the woman
had suffered. She had not only suffered, but suffered many things ; she
had not only suffered many things, but she had suffered many things
under scientific treatment. She had spent a great deal of money,
not only so, she had actually spent all that she had ; and when she
hadn't a penny in her hand, nor a crust in her house, she came to Jesus
Christ. Let us suppose, which I am ready to do, that until that time
she had not heard of Jesus Christ ; let us assume that she did come
(as every woman ought to do) the moment she heard of Christ. Still,
we do see a human creature in poverty, in distress, in extremity coming
to Jesus Christ to put a certain case before him, and Jesus Christ never
reproaches such people. He never says, " What have you brought with
you ? " He never says, " Am I the first physician you have asked to heal
you ? " He never inquires if his name is first or last on the list. He
treats each case on its own merits. Where there is necessity there is a
call upon his pity and love and power and infinite tenderness of heart.
He does not ask for introductions that are formal and ceremonious.
Wherever he finds a needy man he finds common ground of intercourse
with that man ; all the fitness he requires is to feel our need of him,
our hunger, thirst, nakedness, sorrow for sin,— these are the elements of
the only introduction that he requires. If Ave go to him in our fulness
and strength and sufficiency and pride, we shall never find him at liberty
to talk to us, or if he do bestow one moment's attention upon us, he will
speak to us as it were in lightning and thunder and just anger. But if we
can hardly crawl to his feet, if we can hardly put a sentence together, if
we can only hint to him some broken desire of the heart, no matter, he
has pledged himself instantly to hear even a child in distress or danger. He
will come to us in the time of our peril and our penitence and our
heart's desire for his salvation.

" She said. If I may but touch his clothes I shall be whole." A
woman said that. Why, don't women say all the brightest and most
beautiful things that ever are said ? If I may but touch his clothes !
Only a woman could have found that out. It is an original idea, so far
as mere criticism is concerned ; because it flashes from the side of love,
impulse, passion of the heart — the white heat of love. Was there not
another woman who startled the Saviour by a most beautiful expres-
sion— took him as it were by surprise, if we may use that expression
reverently concerning him who knew all things ? J«sus said unto her,
" It is not meet to take the children's bread and throw it unto the dogs."
" True, Lord," the woman answered, " yet the dogs eat of the crumbs
which fall from the children's table." Jesus hearing that, was taken
captive. Those little golden sentences lay hold of him, and he can't go
away. The finest things you ever said in your life you said in sorrow and

Christ's Cures 79

affliction. I have in the course of my pastoral experience heard very
common men say some beautiful things in the dark and cloudy day, when
their fig tree was being barked, when their one ewe lamb was being taken
away. Some of the finest, richest letters I ever received have been
written by people who were in deep trouble, in sore agony of spirit ; so
beautiful have those letters been, that one has hardly been able to find
the point of consistency between what we have known of the writer in
common times and in ordinary circumstances and the beauty, the re-
finement, and the pathos of the composition.

Here is a man whose memory is clearly before me at this moment,
who never in the ordinary course of life said one memorable word. I
have seen that man in affliction in one room and his dear little girl
dying in another room, and he could not go to her ; I have seen the
dead child brought in to him before it was consigned to the tomb. And
out of that man's lips, in that holy, dark, yet brilliant hour, I have heard
some of the richest, tenderest, most beautiful things I have ever heard
from any speaker. So, in the case of the ruler, in the case of the woman
who had the issue of blood, and on other occasions in the New
Testament, — we are surprised by the originality of the conception and
by the beauty of the expression. Yes, and when the world's account
is summed up, we shall find that we owe more to grief than we do to joy,
and that sorrow has been the veiled angel of God come to teach us some
of the deepest lessons which can ever be learnt by human students.

" And Jesus immediately knowing in himself that virtue had gone out
of him, turned him about in the press and said, Who touched my clothes ?
And his disciples said unto him, thou seest the multitude thronging thee
and sayest thou. Who touched me ? And he looked round about to see
her that had done this thing. But the woman fearing and trembling,
knowing what was done in her, came and fell down before him and told
him all the truth. And he said. Daughter thy faith hath made thee
whole, go in peace and be whole of thy plague."

There is touchmg Mid touching. The multitude touched the
Saviour and got nothing out of him. The poor trembling woman laid
her fingers upon the hem of his garment and at once was strengthened
and made young again. There is hearing and hearing. There is not a
person I presume in this house to-day who does not hear every tone of
my voice. Some may only be hearing with the animal ear ; others are
hearing with the ear of the soul, and every tone is music, because it
speaks and breathes the word and love of God. " Thou seest the
multitude thronging thee and sayest thou. Who touched me ?" Jesus
individualized one particular touch. Thou seest a great congregation in
the church and sayest thou that this is not christian England ? Thou
seest all the pews are let and sayest thou the people are not religious ?
There may be nearness to Christ without a loving touch. There may
be a kind of delight in his presence, in his society, without that proximity,
nearness, which brings the life out of his life into ours. So, there is a
reading of the Bible that gets nothing out of the Bible, and there is a
consideration of scriptural truth which enriches and blesses the soul.
*'I thank thee, oh Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that thou hast hid

8o The City Temple

these things from the wise and prudent and revealed them unto babes ;
even so Father it seemeth good in thy sight."

Shall we touch Jesus to-day, as we never touched him before ?
Your old age will vanish, your wrinkles will go away, your sorrows
Avill be taken up, and turned as it were into beauteous rainbows of pro-
mise, and the earth and the heavens shall become new and young and
bright. It is with Christ as it is with ourselves. Some men will speak
to us and get nothing in return. Other men will speak to us and they
will surprise us, — get revelations, expositions, declarations, which perhaps
we had never intended to make, and of which we did not know our-
selves capable of making. When Johnson lay a dying, and Burke
called upon him, he said, " Don't let me see him ! That
fellow will kill me in an hour." He could have seen many other
men, and they would never have injured him ; they would not have
drav.m upon his life ; they would not have drawn upon the sap of his
manhood. But when a great man like Edmund Burke called upon him,
whose every question called for a revelation, whose every suggestion
sounded the depths of the mind, he said, " I can't bear him ; he will
kill me in an hour."

There are men who can draw virtue out of one ; and there are
others whose touch makes one feel very cold and poor. It is the same
Avay with you hearers. After all there is a good deal of truth in thp
statement that " eloquence is in the fearer." If I see a man looking
at me with brightn'ess in his eye and 'a smile upon his face, I can preach
ever so much better. I preach to that man who is the electrical hearer.
That is the man who touches me and draws out such virtue as I am
able to communicate. It must be very hard work to preach to a
brick wall. I don't know that it can be very tempting work to
preach to empty pews. The youth with a bright face and keen eye
and eager look will help one. The old man with his silvered hairs,
looking as if we were saying something that had blessed his life,
will help one. And even your sorrow looking up with its chastened head
in the house of God will draw upon one's hcart-strei>gth and love and
tenderness. Let us know, therefore, that there is working and working,
hearing rt'w/ hearing. There is a shake of the hand which says, "this
is courtesy;" there is another shake that says, "this is cordiality." Give
me the latter.

After curing this woman of her plague, Jesus Christ went on to
the ruler's house. I shall not follow him to that house to-day, — time
will not allow. But there is a point here that fills me v/ith thankfulness,
delight inexpressible. This point, namely, — T/iat Jesus Christ docs so
much incidental icork in society. We find him going to a certain point
to do a certain work, and it was on the road that he performed this
miracle of healing. It did not enter, so far as we can see, into
the main purpose. It was something aside, collateral, incidental.
Why, the incidental work of some men is grander than the set purposes
of the lifetime of others. Some men will do more overwork than others
will do Avithin the space of the hireling's day. This was not in the
bond ; this is a parenthesis ! And there is more in one parenthesis
of God's literature than in all the libraries of man's writing.

A Uomiletic Analysis 8 1

People say, Will God answer prayer ? Will God alter the laws of
the universe ? \X\\\ God come out of his way to do this or that in the hou/
of our importunity ? It is a difficullt question ; we do not pretend to be
able to answer it in a manner altogether satisfactory to the natural reason.
But here I find Jesus Christ set on a given purpose, going from one
point to another that he may attend to some case which has been
brought before him, and on the road he does this most beautiful deed. So
in the government of his great universe he has a purpose. He is mov-
ing steadily to one culminating point. But can't he do a good deal on
the road ? Whilst he is set in that direction can he not speak to you
and me now and then and bless us ? I prefer, having looked at this
question as well as I possibly can look at it, to believe that though God
has great laws and main purposes, and his face is set towards one given
point, on the road He can turn aside and give life to the down-trodden
and save the contrite soul.

A HOMILETIC ANALYSIS

OF THE

^osprt bg i^atfe*

CHAPTER IV.

26 And he said, So is the kingdom of
God, as if a man should cast seed into the
ground;

27 And should sleep, and rise night and
day, and the seed should spring and grow up
he knoweth not how.

28 For the earth bringeth forth fruit of
herself ; iirst the blade, then the ear, after that
the full corn in the ear.

29 But when the fi uit is brought forth,
immediately he putteth in the sickle, because
the harvest is come.

In addition to the analysis of
this parable given in the 13th
chapter of Matthew, the following
points may be taken.

(i) Though the sower sleep after
his labour, yet the process of ger-
mination goes on night and day.
(2) Simple beginnings and practi-
cal results may be connected by
mysterious processes : " he know-
eth not how." There is a point in
christian work where knowledge

must yield to mystery. {3) As the
work of the sower is assisted by
natural processes (" the earth bring-
eth forth of itself," &c.), so the seed
of truth is aided by the natural
conscience and aspiration which
God has given to all men. {4)
The mysteriousness of processes
ought not to deter from reaping
the harvest. The spiritual labourer
may learn from the husbandman.

30 And he said, Whereunto shall we liken
the kingdom of God ? or with what compari-
son shall we compare it ?

31 It is like a grain of mustard seed,
which, when it is sown in the earth, is less than
all the seeds that be in the earth :

32 But when it is sown, it groweth up,
and becometh greater than all herbs, and
shooteth out great branches ; so that the fowls
of the air may lodge under the shadow
of it.

(i) Small beginnings may have
great endings, (a) This should

82

The City Temple

encourage all holy labourers ; (b)
this should alarm all wicked men.

(2) Vitality more important than
magnitude. (a) This applies to
creeds ; (b) to church agencies
and organisations ; (c) to a public
profession of faith. (3) The least
thing in nature a better illustration
of divine truth than the greatest
object in art. The least of all
seeds more fitly represents the
kingdom of heaven than the most
elaborate of all statuary. The na-
tural flower is a revelation of God,
the artificial flower is a proof of the
skill of man. It should be noticed
that human art is never referred to
in the scripture as illustrating the
divine nature and purposes, but
continual reference is made to all
the works of creation. God illus-
trates himself by himself.

3 3 And with many such parables spake he
the word unto them, as they were able to
hear it.

34 But without a parable spake he not unto
them : and when they were alone, he expound-
ed all things to his disciples.

This text may be used as supply-
ing three lessons as to the duties of
the christian teacher, (i) He
must adapt himself to his hearers.
Are they young ? are they edu-
cated ? are they courageous ? are
they surrounded by any peculiar
circumstances? (2) He must con-
sider his hearers rather than him-
self. This was Jesus Christ's me-
thod. The question should be not
what pleases the preacher's taste,
but what is most required by the
spiritual condition of the people.

(3) He must increase his commu-
nication of truth and light accord-
ing to the progress of his scholars.
Reticence is power. In teaching
children the teacher does not
dazzle them by the splendour of
his attainments, he adapts the light
to the strength of their mental

vision. The preacher should always
know more of divine truth than the
hearer. Christ's method of impart-
ing knowledge is, so far as we can
infer, unchanged. He has yet more
light Jo shed upon his word.

35 And the same day, when the even was
come, he saith unto them, Let us pass over unto
the other side.

36 And when they had sent away the
multitude, they took him even as he was in
the ship. And there were also with him other
little ships.

37 And there arose a great storm of wind,
and the waves beat into the ship, so that it was
now full.

38 And he was in the hinder part of the
ship, asleep on a pillow : and they awake him,
and say unto him. Master, carest thou not that
we perish?

39 And he arose, and rebuked the wind,
and said unto the sea, Peace, be still. And the
wind ceased, and there was a great calm.

40 And he said unto them. Why are ye so
fearfiil? how is it that ye have no faith?

41 And they feared exceedingly, and said
one to another, What manner of man is this,
that even the wind and the sea obey him?

(i) The organised Church in
peril, — Christ and his disciples
were all in this tempest. (2) Dan-
gers beset the church even whilst
it is carrying out the express com-
mands of Christ, — Jesus himself
bade them pass over unto the other
side. (3) The spirit of Christ, not
the body of Christ, must save the
the church in all peril. The sleep-
ing body was in the vessel, but it
exercised no influence upon the
storm. It is possible to have an
embalmed Christ and yet to have
no Christianity. It is also possible
to have the letter of Christ's word
without the spirit and power of his
truth. (4) Jesus Christ answering
the personal appeal of the im-
perilled church. The power of the
servant is often exhausted, — ex-
hausted power should betake itself
to supphcation. (5) All the perils
of the church may be successfully
encountered by profound faith in
God, v. 40.

A Homiletk Analysis

83

CHAPTER V.

I And they came over unto the other side
of the sea, into the country of the Gadarenes.

a And when he was come out of the ship,
immediately there met him out of the tombs a
man with an unclean spirit,

3 Who had his dwelling among the tombs ;
and no man could bind him, no, not with
chains :

4 Because that he had been often bound
with fetters and chains, and the chains had been
plucked asunder by him, and the fetters broken
in pieces : neither could any man tame him.

5 And always, night and day, he was in the
mountains, and in the tombs, crying, and cut-
ting himself with stones.

6 But when he saw Jesus afar off, he ran
and worshipped him,

7 And cried, with a loud voice, and said.
What have I to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son
of the most high God? I adjure thee by God,
that thou torment me not.

8 For he said unto him. Come out of the
man, thou unclean spirit.

9 And he asked him, What is thy name?
And he answered, saying, My name is Legion :
for we are many.

10 And he besought him much that he
would not send them away out of the country.

II Now there was there nigh unto the
mountains a great herd of swine feeding.

12 And all the devils besought him, saying,
Send us into the swine, that we may enter into
them.

13 And forthwith Jesus gave them leave.
And the unclean spirits went out, and entered
into the swine : and the herd ran violently
down a steep place into the sea, (they were
about two thousand ;) and were choked in the sea.

14 And they that fed the swine fled, and
told it in the city, and in the country. And
they went out to see what it was that was done.

15 And they come to Jesus, and see him
that was possessed with the devil, and had the
legion, sitting, and clothed, and in his right
mind : and they were afraid.

1 6 And they that saw it told them how it
befel to him that was possessed with the devil,
and also concerning the swine.

17 And they began to pray him to depart
out of their coasts.

This story may be viewed in
four aspects : — I. The Human ;
II. The Divine ; III. The Dia-
bolic ; IV. The Social.

I. The Human. The human
aspect is seen both in shadow and
in light : — (i) As seen in shadow :

(a) Man impure, — unclean spirit;

(b) Man dis-socialised, — his dwel-
ling was among the tombs ; (c)
Man unrestrained, — no man could
tame him, no not with chains ; (d)
Man self-tormented, — crying and
cutting himself with stones. (2)
As seen in light : (a) Man tran-
quihsed, — sitting; (b) Man civi-
lised,— clothed ; (c) Man intellec-
tualised, — in his right mind.

II. The Divine, (i) Christ iden-
tified by his holiness ; (2) Christ
feared for his power; (3) Christ
recognised in the realm of spirits.

III. The Diabolic, (i) As
showing great resources, — " we are
many ;" (2) As displaying subordi-
nation,— they besought Christ, &c.;
(3) As revealing destructiveness, —
whatever they touch, man or beast,
they destroy.

IV. The Social, (i) Society
trembling under manifestations of
spiritual power ; spiritual power is
always more or less mysterious, —
" they were afraid." (2) Society
caring more for beasts than for
men, — they prayed him to depart
out of their coasts.

The prayer of the unclean spirits
may be regarded as showing the
intokrablcness of life in hell. They
wished to be sent anywhere but to
the pit.

Or thus : —

The story may be used as show-
ing at once the greatness and the
weakness of man. (i) His great-
ness,— seen in the fact that mafiy
devils can enter into him. Shew
how men may be great in evil as
well as in good, — tyrants, warriors,
conspirators, hypocrites, &c. (2)
His Aveakness, — seen in his yield-
ing where he ought to have resisted;
in his helplessness when he had once
admitted the power of evil into his

84

The City Temple

heart, — seen also in his fear of the
only power that could redeem him
from his bondage. The last point
should be urged as one of great
importance, — showing how the ten-
dency of sin is actually to destroy
confidence not only in God as
Creator and Preserver, but actually
as Redeemer, (a) It raises scep-
tical questions ; (b) It urges the
doctrine of self-elevation.

Or thus : —

The story may be treated as
showing some phases of Christ's
ministry, (i) Christ caring for o?ie
man; (2) Christ's rule over evil
spirits ; (3) Christ reconstructing
manhood ; (4) Christ showing him-
self the source of all blessings,^ —
(a) self control, — " sitting ;" (b)
civilisation, — "clothed;" (c) mental
restoration, — "in his right mind."

Christ's conduct in this case re-
veals the fearlessness of his spirit,
(i) Holiness is fearless ; (2) Philan-
thropy is fearless ; (3) Trust in
God is fearless. Show how fear-
lessness is required of all who
follow Christ, — how it is necessary
to ben.ficent activity, — and how it
can only be sustained by ever-
deepening communion with God.

The whole parable may be
treated as showing — (i) The Fear-
lessness ; (2) The Aggressiveness;
(3) The Beneficence of Christianity.

1 8 And when he was come into the ship,
he that had been possessed with the devil prayed
him that he might be with liim.

19 Howbeit Jesus suiTered him not, but
saith unto him, Go home to thy friends, and
tell them how great things the Lord hath done
for thee, and hath had compassion on thee.

20 And he departed, and began to publish
in Decapolis how great things Jesus had done
for him : and all men did marvel.

21 And when Jesus was passed over again
by ship unto the other side, much people
gathered unto him : and he was nigh unto the sea.

{ I ) The recollection of our Christ-
less state should beget a spirit of
distrust in ourselves. The healed

man was naturally anxious to remain
at the side of his healer. (2) Shew
the possibility of being under the
protection of Christ even though
far from his physical presence. The
healed man was as surely under the
care of Christ when miles away as
when within reach of his hand.
Christ always pointed towards a
spiritual reign, and both incidentally
and dnectly discouraged trust in
merely fleshly presence and power.

Christ's answer may be taken as
shewing how the Gospel is to be
propagated : (i) It is to be declared
at home; (2) it is to be founded on
perso7ial experience; (3) it is to
acknowledge the power and good-
ness of God alone.

Every christian should himself
be the chief argument in favour of
Christianity. The christian is not
only to have an argument, he is
himself to (^^ an argument. The
man whose sight was restored said
to those who enquired concernmg
the process of restoration — "one
thing I know that whereas I was
blind now I see." Had he allowed
himselt to be lured into a discussion
about Moses or the supposed
character of Christ he might have
been overcome by superiority of
address on the part of his critics,
but so long as he confined himself
to his own case his position was
invincible. The recovered man
whose case is given in this chapter
could always answer the quibbles
of enquirers by a reference to his
own experience. 'What has Christ
done for«us ? What is our present
state as compared with onr former
condition? What is our moral tone?
What is our attitude in relation to
the future ? If we can answer these
questions satisfactorily we have a
sufficient reply to all controversial
difficulties and to all speculative
scepticism.

The City Temple.

REPORT OF A DISCOURSE DEUVERED BY

JOSEPH PARKER,

In Poultry Chapel ^ on Thursday Morning j February i6, 1871.

(the sixty-seventh noonday service.)

THE INVOCATION.

Thou, who art glorious in holiness, hast revealed unto us a glorious Gospel. The day-spring
from on high hath visited us. The light of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ
hath shone upon us. It is indeed a marvellous light ; we will rejoice and be glad in
it, and praise the Lord for a revelation of glory so great. We will answer the glory of thy love
with vehement joy and with life-long thankfulness. May no cloud ever obscure the brightness
of thy presence ! May we walk in the light of thy countenance all the day, and may even the
darkness itself be light round about us. We would extinguish all other lights, and walk steadfastly
all our days in the lustre of thy love. Father of mercies, perfect our strength, that our lives may
follow closely the godly desires of our hearts. Blessed Jesus, we would know no glory but the
glory of thy cross ; we would see beyond its shame and pain and degradation. It is to us the
brightest object in creation, — the light without which our souls would stumble and perish in
darkness. Lord hear us ! Lord revive us ! Lord keep us ! Let our prayer prevail with Thee,
because Jesus is mighty to save. Amen.

THE GLORY OF THE GOSPEL.

" The glorious gospel of the blessed God." — i Timothy, i., ii.

Y particular object in calling attention to these words is to
enquire concerning the claim of the gospel of Jesus Christ
to have the Avord glorious attached to it. We are not about
to attempt an analysis, special, minute, and exhaustive, of all
that is comprehended in the word gospel We arc simply about to ask
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86 The City Temple

what there is, looking at the gospel broadly, to warrant the application
of such a word as glorious. Sometimes this word is used very carelessly,
ofF-handedly, without special meaning or application to the subject in
hand. Sometimes men use it in the heat of speech, when they would
not write it in the calmness of their studies. For example : — Men will
exclaim, "What a glorious landscape!" "What a glorious river !"
" What a glorious scene 1" Up to a given point the application of that
word may, under such circumstances, be allowable ; yet, if submitted to
criticism and to reason, they Avould say who had used the word that a
term less fervent, less comprehensive, might be substituted with advan-
tage for the word glorious. As used by the apostie Paul in this verse,
is the word glorious merely an ecstatic expression ? Is it used merely
to relieve an overflowing emotion on his part ? or is there under it
reason, argument, solidity, indefeasible right and title to so magnificent
a description ? There is morality in language. If we ought not to say
that a pound has in it tAventy ounces, we ought not to say that an
object is glorious when it is not glorious, — especially when we deal with
the highest questions and considerations which affect human character
and destiny. We ought to be precise, critical, definite, in the language
which we employ. I want you, then, to consider briefly and broadly,
without minuteness of analysis, what title, right, or claim the gospel of
the blessed God has to be considered glorious.

The gospel declares itself to be God's greatest answer to man's
greatest want. It is enough, in the meantime, to know what claim the
gospel asserts on behalf of itself; because according to the scope and
intensity of that assertion is the judgment which the gospel is preparing
for itself. The gospel does not profess to be one answer amongst many.
The gospel claims to be the one answer which God makes to the
problem of sin and the agony of sorrow. The gospel does not speak
with a hesitating difl^ident tone. It does not put itself in an excusatory
attitude. It does not ask to be heard on sufferance, and to be judged
by some modified law of criticism. It stands clear out in the daylight.
It says, in personal language, " If any man thirst, let him come unto
me and drink."' So far it establishes some claim upon our attention, if
not upon our confidence, by its very boldness, by the heroic sentiment
that is in it. You like that which is clear, bold, well-defined ? You
have it in the gospel of Jesus Christ. Find me one instance in which
the gospel hesitates, or in which Jesus Christ sets before men two possi-
bilities of salvation. Show me where Jesus Christ or the apostles failed
in firmness, in precision, in defining man's condition before God, and
man's way back to all that he had lost and to the higher blessing of a
new creation. You are challenged to find such instances. There is
not one such instance to be found from end to end of Jesus Christ's
ministry. And I maintain this fact as in the meantime a claim upon
our attention. Here is a voice which puts down all other voices. Here
is a liglu which puts out by its dazzling glory all other beams. Here
is a claim urged upon our hearts with all the specific firmness of dogma-
tism and all the omnipotent tenderness of God's own pathos. It is,
then, one of two things. The issue is an issue sharply defined. Either
this gospel is the most gigantic and self-convicting imposition, or it

The Glory of the Gospel %^

merits the epithet " glorious'' as describing its scope and its di\'ine
meaning, I should like you enquirers who are considering the claims of
Christianity, who are looking seriously at rehgious su*bjects, to weigh the
Avorth of this suggestion (which does not in the meantime touch for a
moment the truth of the gospel), — viz., the universality of its appeal, the
decision of its tone, the preciousness of its offers, the sovereign dogma-
tism of its claims. If the gospel had come with an apology in its hands — •
if the gospel had said, " Now, I think that upon the whole I have met the
human difficulty better than ever it has been met before ; I think that I
suggest a ground on which men may fairly meet to talk over gi-eat sub-
jects which affect time and eternity,"' — then the gospel would have put
itself upon its trial ; it would have been a hypothetic gospel, contin-
gent, turning upon points, upon a variety of opinions, upon the acuteness
of discrimination on the part of the observers. But the gospel, right or
wrong, of heaven or hell, does nothing of the kind. Its claims are
minute, positive, ultimate. Its tone begs for no sufferance. It is the
decree of sovereignty — it is the proclamation of God. You who doubt
this have to encounter the claim of the gospel as the gospel itself makes
it out, — and certes 1 you have breadth enough and scope enough to pass
judgment upon. This is not some Httle, peddling, subtle doctrine that
comes in upon you you don't know how, — in microscopic points, and in a
state of fluidity which is so subtle as to escape all your power of analysis.
It comes in great breadths of sunshine, in great bursts and volumes of
light. It claims your attention upon every ground ; not pared and
pinched away, but the broadest possible standing that the human in-
tellect or the human heart can suggest or require. You say rightly
about a man who comes forward in critical times and enunciates, boldly
and clearly, a theory of extrication, of political redemption and progress,
'• Well, after all, right or A^Tong, he is a glorious fellow." Why is he a
glorious man ? Because in the midst of political and social chaos,
when hardly any two opinions can be reconciled, when there is a great
deal opposed upon every side, he arises, incurring disdain, contumely,
censure, so far as his doctrines are concerned, and says, " In my
opinion it is this way, — be just and fear not."' You rightly accord to
that man words of admiration, epithets of applause and honour, even
though you may not agree with the sentiments which he promulgates.
If, therefore, I look at the heroic tone of the gospel, I say there is
something in that tone which touches all that is deep and true in my
nature, and that so far the gospel may be called a glorious gospel.
Never begging to be excused for making the suggestion ; never hoping
if you please you will kindly indulge this suggestion, and put up as Avell
as you can with that doctrine ; never apologising for its own existence,
and squeezing itself into the smallest possible compass, and begging on
Sunday to let it sit doA\m here and there, — but Avith boldness, Avith
the claim of right, and AAdth sovereign supremacy, it smashes every
idol, declares against all \ice, gathers around its head all light, lustre,
glory, effulgence, and claims not the loAvest seat in the temple or
society but the very throne of the sanctuary of God. I can say all this
AA-ithout pronouncing any opinion about the merits of the gospel. I am
speaking noAv solely of che claims which it makes on behalf of itself.

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" Well," you say, " this is very dogmatic on the part of the gospel, and
you don't believe in dogmatism." Paul is no more dogmatic than Euclid.
I dare say you mighl meet a boy here and there who, taking up Euclid,
would say, " This is too dogmatic for me." It is a good deal too
dogmatic for most boys. When Euclid says that a straight line
is the shortest distance between two points, the boy may say, " That
admits of discussion, I think, and you ought to adopt a more charitable
tone." Geometry cannot afford to be sentimentally charitable. You can
only build geometry upon positive declaration, upon dogmatic truth,
" Well," but you say, " it is not so easy to be dogmatic in morals as it
is in mathematics." Quite so. Yet he would be wanting, I think, in the
first elements of common sense who supposed that because the king-
dom was greater the king was less decisive in his sovereignty and less
positive in his claims. Can you do without the influences of nature in
growing your bread and other articles of food ? It seems to be very
dogmatic on the part of Almighty God that he should have arranged
nature as he has done. Why can't I sow my seed in the field in
August, and reap my harvest in February ? Here is the earth, yonder
is the shining sun, the healthful vital air is breathing its benediction
over the world. Why, then, seeing that I have light and soil and
moisture and air, can I not plant my seed when I like and reap it when
I please? But you can't do so. Your theory may abstractly look
very liberal and noble, but facts are against you. Why can't you devise
some new plan of getting bread ? Why should you submit to the old
humdrum way of ploughing the earth, and throwing in seed, and reap-
ing the wheat, and grinding it, and turning it into bread ? Why can't
you be original, inventive, creative as to your daily food ? You are a
man. You can think, you can conspire, you can plot, you can curse
and swear, you can blaspheme God. Why can't you be original in the
way of getting the morsel of food you want day by day ? Yet God shuts
you up within the prison of his laws. He cages you within the bars
of his sovereign limitations. You may chafe, blaspheme, roar against
him like a beast of prey, but you must submit. This law is liberty.
This imprisonment within divinely appointed boundaries is freedom. The
appointments ot God are the conditions of true liberty and blessed enjoy-
ment. No more can you do without the gospel than you can do without
the influences of nature in the lower ranges of your life. The gospel of
the blessed God claims to be as necessary to the redemption and
sanctification and glorification of the soul as the sun, the air, the dew,
the earth claim to be necessary to the growth of your food and to the
maintenance of your physical system.

Being God's greatest answer to man's greatest want, the
gospel must supply that which is most needful to man. Let
us suppose in prosecuting this enquiry that it is admitted that man is a
sinner. Let it be granted by us all that man is not before God as he
ought be in his moral nature. Let us dismiss, if you please, any offensive
statement of the doctrine of original sin and hereditary depravity ; and
let it be assumed that we are agreed that man is not what he ought to be
in some particular or other, that there is a stain upon his nature, that
his spirit is tainted, that he has done the things he ought not to have

The Glory of the Gospel ^9

done and left undone the things that he ought to have done. Let us be
agreed upon this, that in going through our yesterdays we do find
actions that we cannot approve, thoughts that were impure, words that
were cowardly, untrue, unjust. Let us further assume that all these
recollections are sufficiently poignant and intense to torment our con-
sciences. Now surely I am not asking too much in asking to have all
that allowed. That the past has in it a moral sting, that we dare not
recal certain passages in our lives because they become spectral, they
seem to fashion tliemselves into divine judgments, they force upon us
claims which we cannot satisfy. What is most important to man under
such circumstances ? Oblivion ? Then by so much you substract from
tlie volume of his manhood. Heedlessness about spiritual affairs
and moral consequences ? Then you increase his Aveakness and
aggravate his guilt. What under such circumstances is most important
to men ? This — if it be possible to get it — Pardon ! Consider the
whole question, long and deeply, as some of us have considered it, and
you can't reach a better conclusion than that. The thing most import-
ant to man under such circumstances as have been described is pardon.
This is precisely what the gospel proposes to give to all who accept it.
Through this man Christ Jesus is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins.
" Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts,
let him return unto the Lord and he will have mercy upon him, and
unto our God for he will abundantly pardon." Not merely pardon, not
grudgingly pardon, but he will meet the contrite broken-hearted sinner
with Avave on wave of forgiveness, — He will multiply to pardon,— He
will pardon with pardons, — He will receive the sinner graciously and
love him freely.

I cannot hear such words as these without instantly feeling
that they involve a glorious conception. WHiatever these words may
be worth they are in spirit and in tone unprecedented in magnificence.
But you will not know how magnificent they are until you know the
bitterness of sin. If you are at fault there, then the word pardon will
have no music for your soul's ear. If sin is nothing to you but a speck
of dust on the surface of your life, which you can brush away at plea-
sure and be just as you were before, then the gospel will not be to you
a glorious and magnificent gospel. But if you be devoured by evil
memories, if you be stung by self-reproaches, if sin be unto you that
abominable thing which God hateth, if an evil thought — a thing without
shape, that has never yet expressed itself in any language — be to you
a pain and torture and agony, if you have reached that refinement of
moral sensibility, and I come to you and say. You may be pardoned,
your sins whicli are many may all be forgiven you, — what will be your
response ? This, — It is a glorious gospel ! He who sees and feels the
darkness of guilt will best comprehend and most truly appreciate the
lustre and dazzling effulgence of God's great offer of redemption.

Pardon is not enough. Pardon seems merely to restore us to a
kind of negative condition. Pardon may mean, in some cases, where not
fully understood and realized, mere innocence. There was a stain upon
the heart : that stain has been removed by a powerful detergent, and now
the heart is pretty much as it was in years gone by. That may be some
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90 The City Temple

people's notion of pardon. But when God pardons there is another step
involved, and another element enters into consideration. Man becomes
not only pardoned, — he becomes also holy. Holiness is more than inno-
cence. Holines denotes vitality of sympathy as between the soul and God.
Holiness is the comprehensive word which includes the whole discipline
of life, the whole trust of the heart in God, and the continuous aspiration of
the spirit after the perfectness of God's own beauty. We are called unto
holiness. Are some of us satisfied with pardon ? Then we have not been par-
doned, our sins have only been covered up, they have not been taken away.
He who is pardoned by God longs with all the vehemence of love to be
like God. He whose soul has been touched by the living blood of the one
Great Sacrifice says, " Make me, great God, holy as Thou art holy ! "
There is a beauty of holiness. God is not only holy, He is glorious in
holiness. Mark the emphasis and completeness of that expression.
Holiness itself is beautiful. Holiness itself is glorious. But here is our
Father described not only as holy but as glorious in holiness. Holy
holiness ! Infinitely, infinitely pure holiness ! What is our call as ad-
dressed to us by Jesus Christ? " Be ye holy as your Father in heaven is
holy." When a man sees the possibility of such holiness, when he sees
that lofty ideality of character set before him, when he sees through
Christ what men may become, — then he tramples underfoot all theories,
all morals, all human suggestions and desires, and fixing his eye upon
Christ and his truth, he says, There, and there only^ have I found the
glorious gospel.

Then I want to know somethng, however little, about the
future. Is this little globe of dust everything ? When I have lived my
few years and death calls for me, is that cold grave the full stop in the
literature of existence ? Has that little child been extinguished altogether?
Are there such things as roots planted in the grave and bearing beautiful
and odorous flowers in some brighter clime ? Shall it be alike with the
righteous and the wicked in the dark sad day of death ? Shall the chaff
be equal in value to the wheat ? Shall the man who has thought and
preached and written and suffered on behalf of virtue and truth and
purity, die like a man who has revelled in sensuahty and uncleaness and
all evil ? I want to know something about these things. Can yonder thin
trembing yet opaque veil be removed aside a little that I may see if there is
darkness beyond it or some little gleam of light ? And after I ask these
questions about the future I receive this answer, — Life and immortality are
brought to light by the gospel. Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord.
Absent from the body present with the Lord. If our earthly house, if
this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, a house not
made with hands, eternal in the heavens ! These are they that came out
of great tribulation, they washed their robes and have made them white
in the blood of the Lamb, — therefore are they before the throne and
worship God day and night in His temple. They shall hunger no more,
neither thirst any more, neither shall the sun light on them nor any heat.
And the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them and
lead them to living fountains of water. And God shall wipe all tears
away from their eyes. And when this voice has ceased, in response to
my anxious urgent enquiries, I exclaim, It is a glorious gospel !

Broken Columns

91

I intended to dwell upon three points of application, but I cannot. I
shall just name them therefore. If this be a glorious gospel, what manner
of persons ought we to be who profess it? If this be a glorious gospel, ought
Ave to be ashamed of it ? If this be a glorious gospel, are we not called
upon to publish it ? These Avere my points of application, constituting
a sermon in themselves. Let me conclude by saying the older I grow,
the more of men and things I see, the more deeply I study life, the more
thoroughly I comprehend the discipline of Providence, the more I look
at the future, the more I feel the burden and the torment of sin, the
more do I realise the intense and everlasting glory of the truth as it is
in Jesus.

BROKEN COLUMNS.

Under this heading we shall occasionally give Outlines of Sermons.

The Crises of Faith.

*' My steps had well nigh slipped." —
Psalms, Ixxiii., 2.

There are perilous moments in
the life ot the soul. The best and
strongest men have experienced
this, — Psalmist, Job, Peter, &c.
(I.) Apparent inequalities of Provi-
dence. (11.) Sudden assaults of
temptation. (HI.) Disappointed
confidence in professing christians.
(IV.) Earnest prayers unanswered.
(V.) Mistaken views of the neces-
sary mysteries of divine govern-
ment.

What is the security ? Chrisfs
view of Gods sovereignty ; (a) Fa-
therly ; (b) Disciplinary j (c) Re-
demptive; (d) Universal.

When did the steps of the
Psalmist well nigh slip ? When he
reasoned 1 No. \i\itxi\v^ prayed 1
No. When he saw., — shew hence
the deceptiveness of mere appear-
ances.

Excuses.

" Lord, I will follow Thee, biU "

Luke, ix., 61.

I. A Good Intention. II. A
Sentimental Hindrance.

Explain what is meant by fol-
lowing Christ. Show how love of
Christ increases and ennobles all
family love.

In dealing with excuses, note
such as — (i) My secular engage-
ments are at present too heavy ;
(2) I want ten years more worldly
enjoyment ; (3) I am afraid I
am not worthy to assume the
christian profession ; (4) I should
like a good many mysteries to be
cleared up first ; (5) I want to get
into a better state oi feeling.

Show that all such excuses are
(i) Selfish; (2) Short-sighted; (3)
Frivolous.

He who gives the cofnma?id will
give the strength.

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On the Duty of Warning Men.

'* Son of man, I have made thee a watchman
unto the house of Israel : therefore hear the
word at my mouth, and give them warning
from me. When I say unto the wicked, Thou
shalt surely die : and thou givest him not
warning, nor speakest to warn the wicked from
his wicked way, to save his life ; the same
wicked man shall die in his iniquity ; but his
blood will I require at thine hand. Yet if thou
warn the wicked, and he turn not from his
wickedness, nor from his wicked way, he shall
die in his iniquity ; but thou hast delivered thy
soul." — Ezekiel, iii., 17-19.

In these solemn words there are
three things set forth most dis-
tinctly and impressively.

I. That the ministry of

DIVINE TRUTHS IS A SPECIAL OR-
DINANCE OF God.

Ezekiel was made a watchman
by divine power as surely as God's
hand set the sun in the heavens.
The gift of interpreting God is not
a natural endowment. We say
that " poets are born not made,"
but the sentiment might be en-
larged so as to comprehend all
classes of men, — painters, archi-
tects, engineers, musicians, ser-
vants.

When it is said that tlie true in-
terpreter of God is specially quali-
fied, the principle oi favouritism is
not laid down. It is the principle
of order. Mere partiality implies
regard to favourable circumstances —
choice founded upon special excel-
lence. In the case of the ministry
God has ever chosen the poor, the
unlikely, the despised, «a:c.

In the case before us, God makes
a broad distinction between himself
and the prophet. God is sovereign,
Ezekiel is subject.

First : The watchman is not self-
constituted (" I have made thee").

Second : The watchman is not
self-instructed (" Hear the word at
my mouth').

Third : The watchman is not self-

sent (" Give them warning from
me").

II. That the ministry of di-
vine TRUTHS IS entrusted WITH

the duty of warning men.

Ezekiel was called to warn both
the wicked and the righteous.
Warning is a solemn word : it is
more than instruction, — more than
definition. It is expressive of in-
tense concern, — fervid and impor-
tunate earnestness. Three mis-
takes about warning may be pointed
out — •

First : That warning is indepen-
dent of k?iowledge.

Second : That warning betokens
hardness of nature.

Third : That warning is the
lowest and easiest duty of the minis-
try.

All these mistakes may be re-
futed by a reference to the case of
Paul.

In what connection did Paul set
the duty of warning ? " Warning
every man and teaching every man
in all wisdom" (Coloss., I., 28).

Did Paul show hardness of heart
when he warned men ? Hear him :
" By the space of three years I
ceased not to warn everyone night
and day with tears" (Acts, xx., 31.)

Did Paul regard warning as of
inferior importance ? Hear him :
" Now we exhort you, brethren,
warn them that are unruly, comfort
the feebleminded, support the weak,
be patient toward all men" (i Thess.

v., 14)- .

III. That the duty of warn-
ing men is connected with a
JUST distribution of responsi-
bility.

We are not told that warning
will be successful. We are merely
told that it will fix responsibihty
on the proper party, (i) A lesson
to preachers. (2) An appeal to
hearers.

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93

A HOMILETIC ANALYSIS

OF THE

CHAPTER V.

22 And, behold, there cometh one of tlie
rulers of the s3'nagogue, Jairus by name ; and
when he saw him, he fell at nis feet,

23 And besought him greatly, saying, My
little daughter lieth at the point of death : I pray
thee, come and lay thy hands on her, that she
may be healed ; and she shall live.

24 And Jesus went with him ; and much
people followed him, and thronged him.

The case of the ruler may be
treated as shewing t/ie instritdivc-
71CSS of divnestic affliction, (i) It
shews the helplessness even of the
greatest men, — the applicant was a
ruler., yet his rulership was of no
avail in this case. All human in-
fluence is limited. (2) It shews
the helplessness even of the kindest
men, — the applicant was a father.,
yet . all his yearning affection was
unable to suggest a remedy for his
afflicted child. (3) It shows the
need of Christ in every life : look-
ing over the whole chapter we find
a demoniac, a ruler, a child, and a
woman who required the services
oi Jesus Christ.

25 And a certain woman, which had an
issue of blood twelve years,

26 And had suffered many things of many
physicians, and had spent all that she had, and
was nothing better, but rather grew worse,

27 When she had heard of Jesus, came in
the press behind, and touched his garment.

28 For she said, If I may touch but his
clothes, I shall be whole.

29 And straightway the fountain of her
blood was dried up ; and she felt in her body
that she was healed of that plague.

30 And Jesus, immediately knowing in him-
self that virtue had gone out of him, turned

press, and said, Who'touched

him about in the
my clothes .^

31 And his disciples said unto him. Thou
seest the multitude thronging thee, and sayest
thou, Who touched me ?

32 And he looked round about to see her
that had done this thing.

3 3 But the woman fearing and trembling,
knowing what was done in her, came and fell
down before him, and told him all the truth.

34 And he said unto her, Daughter, thy
faith hath made thee whole ; go in peace,
and be whole of thy plague.

(i) Human extremity, — the wo-
man had suffered many years and
had spent all, and had become
worse rather than better : she may
be taken, therefore, as a picture of
human extremity. (2) Human
earnestness., — though much people
thronged the Saviour, and she was
Weak, yet she found her way to the
Healer. This may be taken as
illustrative of the power of earnest-
ness in seeking Christ. All of us
have to go to Christ through a
crowd, — a crowd of objectors, of
indifferent persons, of apathetic
professors, of quibbling critics, &c.:
if we be in earnest we shall find
our way to Christ. {3) Divine
sensitiveness. Jesus Christ knew
the difference between mere pres-
sure and the touch of loving faith.
This shows that mere nearness to
Christ is not enough. A man may
be in the church and yet far from
the Saviour ; a man may be looking
at the Cross without seeing the
Sacrifice. Expose all the pretences

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which are founded upon ancestry,
nationality, the observance of reU-
gious rites, &c. (4) Fitblic confes-
sion. The poor woman drew near
and told him all the truth, and she
told it in the hearing of the crowd.
Thankfulness should always be
courageous and explicit. Where
there is a keen appreciation of the
work of Christ in the soul all
timidity and hesitation will be
overborne by the intensity of thank-
fulness and joy. This is the true
explanation of christian profession
and testimony.

3 5 While yet he spake there came from
the ruler of the synagogue's house certain
which said, Thy daughter is dead : why trou-
blest thou the Master any further ?

36 As soon as Jesus heard the word that
was spoken, he saith unto the ruler of the
synagogue, Be not afraid, only believe.

37 And he suffered no man to follow him,
save Peter, and James, and John the brother
of James.

38 And he cometh to the house of the
ruler of the synagogue, and seeth the tumult,
and them that wept and wailed greatly.

39 And when he was come in, he saith unto
t'.iem, Why make ye this ado, and weep ? the
damsel is not dead, but sleepeth.

40 And they laughed him to scorn. But
when he had put them all out, he taketh the
father and the mother of the damsel, and them
that were with him, and entereth in where the
damsel was lying.

41 And he took the damsel by the hand,
and said unto her, Talitha cumi : which is,
being interpreted. Damsel, I say unto thee,
arise.

41 And straightway the damsel arose, and
walked ; for she was of the age of twelve
years. And they were astonished with a great
astonishment.

43 And he charged them straitly that no
man should know it ; and commanded that
that something should be given her to eat.

This part of the incident shows
how two views may be taken of the
same case, (i) There is the human
view, — the child is dead, trouble
not the Master. Men see the out-
side, they deal Avith facts rather
than with principles ; they see the
circumference, not the centre. (2)

There is Christ's view, — only be-
lieve ; man is called beyond facts,
he is called into the sanctuary of
God's secret. We often put the
period where God himself puts only
a comma : we say " dead," when
God himself says " sleepeth."
Jesus Christ was laughed to scorn
when he put a new interpretation
upon old facts. All who follow him
must expect to hear christian senti-
ments and predictions misunder-
stood and perhaps contemned.

The incident may be treated as
showing three things : — (i) Christ
not sent for until the last moment ;
(2) Christ misunderstood when
sent for ; (3) Christ never sent for
in vain.

GENERAL NOTE ON THE WHOLE
CHAPTER.

Look at the various instances of
healing recorded in this chapter : — •
Demoniac ; woman ; child ; ruler.
We train men to attempt the cure
of special diseases, but Jesus Christ
treated all afflictions alike of the
mind and body, and never did His
energy prove insufficient for the
demands which were ' made upon
it. What was the secret of the
universality of His healing ? It
was that he infused life into all
who came to Him in their neces-
sity. All other healing is but local
and temporary. The gift of life
alone can throw oft all diseases and
recover the failing tone of the
mind. Jesus Christ never displays
surprise or betrays hesitation when
the most extraordinary cases are
brought under his attention. The
calmness of his spirit and the per-
fect mastery of his working inci-
dentally show the fulness of his
godhead. The cure of the demo-
niac alone would have made the
reputation of any other man. In
Christ's case it is >ratten down as

A Homiletic Analysis

9i

an ordinary event, so far as the
exercise of his own power is con-
cerned. The speciality is on the
side of the sufterer, not on the side
of the Healer. Christ's interrup-
tion on his way to the ruler's house,
and his cure of the poor woman,
should show that his life is an un-
ceasing ministration of good. He
was going towards the house of
suffering, yet on his way he healed
a woman who had been given up

by many physicians ! The benefi-
cent act was a kind of parenthesis.
There is more history condensed
into the very parentheses of Christ's
life than can be found in all the
volumes of other lives. The par-
enthetic characteristic of this cure
may be dwelt on as showing that
even in his movement towards a
given point God may be in-
terrupted by the appeal of human
necessity.

CHAPTER VL

1 And he went out from thence, and came
Into his own country ; and liis disciples follow
him.

2 And when the sabbath day was come, he
began to teach in the synagogue : and many
hearing him were astonished, saying, From
whence hath this man these things ? and what
wisdom is this which is given unto him, that
even such mighty works are wrought by his
hands ?

3 Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary,
the brother of James, and Joses, and of Juda,
and Simon ? and are not his sisters here with
us? And they were offended at him.

(i) Christian doctrine appli-
cable to all classes of men; (2)
Christian doctrine calculated to
excite the profoundest surprise ;
(3) Christian doctrine always con-
veying the impression of unique
power ; (4) Christian doctrine show-
ing the insignificance of the per-
sonality of its teachers. Even Christ
himself, according to the flesh,
seemed poor and inadequate when
viewed in the light of the wondrous
revelations which he made to the
world.

The questions put by those who
heard Jesus Christ show — (i) That
even the greatest speakers cannot
escape personal criticism. It is
often suggested that earnest men
succeed in drawing the attention of
their hearers to the doctrine rather
than to the speaker, but the life of
Christ is a proof to the contrary ;

(2) That prejudiced hearers will
sacrifice the truth because of the
objectionableness of the instrument
through which it is conveyed ; (3)
That such hearers actually dishonour
God in their attempt to exalt him,
because they deny his power to
turn the humblest, poorest agency
to the highest uses.

Tliis incident may be treated as
showing some of the difficulties of
the christian ministry : — (i) The
difficulty of locality, — Jesus was
now in "his OAvn country"; (2) The
difficulty of personality, — ancestry,
appearance, poverty, earnestness
considered as indicative of pre-
sumption, all enter into this diffi-
culty of personality. There is a
still deeper truth underlying this
difficulty : — Individuality of spirit,
claim, manner, always provokes
criticism. The glory of the highest
revelation of Christianity is that
personality is superseded by spirit-
uality. The speaker is to be for-
gotten in the speech. When both
personality and doctrine are to be
considered, the danger is that the
former may be made to assume
undue prominence. Instead of
enquiring What is said ? the en-
quiry will be Who said it ? Per-
sonality is a mere question of dc

96

The City Temple

tail in comparison wijh the truths
which nourish and save the soul.

4 But Jesus said unto them, A prophet is
not without honour, but in his own country,
and among his own kin, and in his own house.

(i) Jesus Christ taking his stand
upon a great principle ; (2) Jesus
Christ claiming his prophetic char-
acter in the face of opposition.

This answer may be regarded as
showing the true method of en-
countering difficulties and dealing
with opponents. Jesus Christ
might have defended his relatives
against the sneers of the critics.
He might also have availed himself
of the til, quoqiie argument, and
shown how little reason his censors
had to make remarks about his
social connections. Were the ser-
vants inspired with the spirit of the
Master, they would show corre-
sponding independence and cour-
age. It is remarkable that the
people should have so boldly con-
demned any part of Christ's minis-
try when they daily saw how great
was his power in working miracles.
They never, so far as can be dis-
covered from the narrative, show
any fear of his wonderful power.
They appear to have treated him
with as much freedom and inso-
lence as if he had never shown his
almighty influence over the laws of
nature.

5 And he could there do no mighty work,
save that he laid his hands upon a few sick
folk, and healed them.

6 And he marvelled because of their un-
belief. And he went round about the villages,
teaching.

This statement (i) refutes the
notion that where there is a true
ministry there will be great success ;
(2) shows the tremendous difficul-
ties which the human will can op-
pose to the highest purposes of
God; (3) justifies the true worker

in leaving the sphere in which he
has been unsuccessful, to carry on
his work under more favourable
circvuTistances. The sphere has
much to do with the development
of the man. It is unreasonable to
teach that a minister can be equally
useful in all places. This remark
must not be abused by the suppo-
sition that because a man cannot
get on where he zV, that he would
infallibly get on somewhere else.
Only in so far as Christ has called
him to do his work will it be true
of him that he will find a sphere in
which he can work successfully.

7 And he called unto him the twelve, and
began to send them forth by two and two; and
gave them power over unclean spirits ;

8 And commanded them that they should
take nothing for their journey, save a staff only 5
no scrip, no bread, no money in their purse :

9 But be shod with sandals ; and not put
on two coats.

10 And he said unto them. In what place
soever ye enter into an house, there abide till
ye depart from that place.

(i) Christ the originator of
missionary effort; (2) Christ the
source of missionary power ; (3)
Christ the provider of missionary
wants. There is no detail too
minute to escape the notice of the
Master. He does not teach care-
lessness,— he encourages depend-
ence. It would be an abuse of the
spirit of the text to insist that mis-
sionaries in our own day should go
forth exactly according to these literal
instructions. When the church is
rich, the ?nissio7iary should not be
made an ex'ample of poverty.
When the church is poor, the mis-
sionary who has Christ's spirit in
him will not be deteiTed by a pros-
pect of hard endurance. The one
vital question relates not to the
outward circumstances but to the
spirit in which missionary work is
undertaken.

The City Temple.

REPORT OF A DISCOURSE DELIVERED BY

JOSEPH PARKER,

In Poultry Chapel, on Thursday Morning , February 23, 1871.
(the sixty-eighth noonday service.)

THE INVOCATION.

Almighty God, Thou grantest unto men dreams and visions of the night which to them are
perplexing, because without interpretation ; and lo ! Thou dost come in the course of life, and
show how much of Thy purpose and Thy love has been prefigured by dreams of the night,
teaching us how wide is Thy universe and how wonderful is Thy way of governing Thy
creatures. Enable us to remember distinctly, and with moral effect, that the night is Thine
as well as the day, and that Thou hast many paths of entrance into the human soul. Help us
to believe that, whether Thou dost come in this way or that. Thou comest with purposes of
redemption, with all love, and with all wisdom ; and that our part is simply to say, " Speak,
Lord, for Thy servant heareth." Give us the hearing ear and the understanding heart, the
child-like spirit and the obedient will, that whensoever Thou dost come unto us we may meet
Thee with the welcome of our love and with all the peacefulness of misgiving trust. We
thank Thee for the goodness of to-day, for the sanctuary of God in the midst of the city, for
the altar of grace set beside the altar of Mammon. Break the dominion of all evil powers ;
depose all unworthy gods ; break up the empire of evil influences, and set within us in all its
glory and beauty and hopefulness the kingdom of Thy dear Son, whose right it is to reign,
seeing he humbled Himself and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross, that
He might redeem us with His precious blood and recover those who have wandered from Thy
sway. Unto the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, whom we adore as One God, be the
kingdom, and the power, and the glory, world without end. Amen.

I 2

9B The City Temple

JOSEPH'S DREAM.

" And they said one to another. Behold, this dreamer cometh." — Genesis, xxxvii., 19.

E learn from this verse how prejudice shuts us up to one
particular view of man ; the view which is most distasteful to
us, and upon which we persuade ourselves, we can remark
with the justice of injury and anger. Joseph was the child

, of his fathers old. age, the idol of the old man's heart, the light of the
household, — and yet his brethren had got one view of him to which
they could never close their eyes. He was nothing to them but a

I dreamer of unpalatable dreams, a seer of visions which more or less
impaired their own dignity and clouded their own prospects. It is the

\ same to-day. Envy never changes. Prejudice never modifies into a
virtue. To-day we do not like the dreamers who have seen visions
which involve us more or less in decay and inferiority. It is not
easy to forgive a man who has dreamed an unpleasant dream concern-
ing us. We cannot easily forgive a man who has founded an obno.xious

' institution. If a man has written a book which is distasteful to us, it is
no matter, though he should do ten thousand acts which ought to excite

^ our admiration and confirm our confidence, we will go back and back
upon the obno-xious publication, and whensoever that man's name is
mentioned that book will always come up in association with it. Is
this right ? Ought we to be confined in our view ot human character
to single points, and those points always of a kind to excite unpleasant,
indignant, perhaps vindictive, feelings? The world's dreamers have

, never had an easy lot of it. Don't let us imagine that Joseph was
called to a very easy and comfortable position when he was called to

. see the visions of Providence in the time of his slumber. God speaks
to men by dream and by vision, by strange scene and unexpected sight ;
and we who are prosaic groundlings are apt to imagine that those men
who live in transcendental regions, who are privileged occasionally
to see the invisible, have all the good fortune of life, and we ourselves
are but servants of dust and hirelings of an ill-paid day. No :
the poets have their own pains, the dreamers have their own peculiar
; sorrows. Men of double sight often have double difficulties in life.
Don't let us suppose that we are all true dreamers. Let us distinguish
' between the nightmare of dyspepsia and the dreams of inspiration. It
it is not because a man has had a dream that he is to be hearkened
unto. It is because the dream is a Parable of Heaven that we ought
to ask him to speak freely and fully to us concerning his wondrous
vision, that we may see further into the truth and beauty of God's
way concerning man.

" Come now therefore, and let us slay him, and cast him into some pit, and we will
say, Some evil beast hath devoured him : and we shall see what will become of his
dreams." — 20.

After this profound scheme no doubt there would follow a chuckle
of triumph. The thing was so lucky in its plan, in its seasonableness,

Joseph's Dream 99

in its practicability ; it seemed to meet every point of the case ; it
made an end of the whole difficulty ; it turned over a new leaf in the
history of the family. Let us understand that our plans are not good
simply because they happen to be easy. Let us understand that a policy
is not necessarily sound because it is necessarily final. There is an evil
policy in brevity as well as wit. In the case before us we see both the
power and weakness of men. Let us slay, — there is the power ; and we •
will see what will become of his dreams,— there is the weakness. You
can slay the dreamer, but you cannot touch the dream. You can
poison the preacher, but what power have you over his wonderful
doctrine ? Can you trace it ? Where are its footprints ? Ten
or twelve men have power to take one lad, seventeen years of
age, to double him up, and throw him, a dead carcase, into
a pit. Wonderful power ! What then ? " And we will see what
will become of his dreams." A word which, perhaps, was spoken
in scorn, derision, or under a conviction that his dreams would go
along with him. Still, underlying all the derision is the fact, that
though the dreamer has been slain the dream remains untouched. The
principle applies very widely. You may disestablish an institution
externally, politically, financially, but if the institution be founded upon
truth the Highest himself will establish her. If we suppose that by
putting out our puny arms and clustering in eager crowds round the •
ark of Ciod, we are the only defenders of the faith and conservers of
the Church, — then be it known unto us that our power is a limited
ability, that God himself is the life, the strength, the defence, and the
hope of his own kingdom. The princii)le, then, has a double applica-
tion,— an application to those who would injure truth, and an applica-
tion to those who would avail themselves of forbidden facilities to
maintain the empire of God amongst men.

" And we will say some evil beast hath devoured him." It is con-
venient in life to have even a beast that you can lay the blame upon. *
Life would be to some of us very insipid if we could not blame some-
body for every evil word we say and every evil thing we do. " Some
evil beast hath devoured him." We are unkind to beasts. We say, in '
our highly figurative words, if a man is intoxicated to a given point,
that " he is as drunk as a beast." 1 should like to hear the beast's •
opinion about that. I never heard of a beast pawning anything that
belonged to him that he might drink brandy and drink his powers
away. No beast can be so bad as a bad man. There is no tiger in
the forest that can be so savage as a pitiless mother. There is no wolf
that ever came down upon a fold that can be so terrible, awful in
passion, in malignity, and in evil deed, as a man who has lost self-
control and is carried away by his lawless passions.

" And Reuben said unto them, Shed no blood, but cast him into this pit that is in the
wilderness, and lay no hand upon him : that he might rid him out of their hands, to deliver
him to his father again." — 22.

We must not be harsh upon Reuben in this connection, although
the Reubens of society are often difficult men to deal with. Instead of
coming right to the front and speaking the decisive word, they avail

100 l^he City Temple

themselves of some intermediate course, so that their very virtue be-
comes diluted into a kind of vice. When a man has not the courage of
his convictions, his convictions may even become a temptation to him-

• self and a stumblingblock to society, Reuben's intention was good,
and let all due credit be given to every man Avho has a good intention,
a merciful object in view. No one of us has a word to say against
such a man. But there are times when everything depends upon tone,
precision, definiteness, emphasis. I am not sure that Reuben could not
have turned the whole company. There are times when one man can

' play with a thousand. A little one can put ten thousand to flight.

, Why ? Because wickedness is weakness. There is more craven
heartedness among bad men than ever you can find among men who
are soundly, livingly good. Is that a hard message to some of you ?
You know a very bold wicked man. Well, so you do ; but that man is
a coward. One day the shaking of a leather will cause him to become
pale, and to tremble and turn round suspiciously, and timidly, as if every
leaf in the forest had an indictment against him and all the elements in
the universe had conspired to destroy him.

Here is a call to us, most assuredly. We are placed in critical
circumstances. Sometimes eight or nine men upon the board of
directors have said that their plan will take this or that particular course.
We believe that the plan is corrupt ; we believe that it is wicked, dis-
pleasing to God, mischievous to man. What is our duty under circum-
stances such as these ? To modify, to pare away, to dilute sound princi-
ple and intense conviction, to speak whisperingly, timidly, apologetically?
I think not. But to meet the proposition with the definiteness of sound
principle, and to be in that minority which in the long run is omni-
potent— the minority of God. It is not easy to do this. Far be it from
me to say that if I had been in Reuben's place I should taken a more
emphatic course. We are not called upon, in preaching God's truth, to
say what we would have done under such circumstances ; but to put
out that which is ideal, absolute, final, and then to exhort one another,
to endeavour by God's tender mighty grace to press towards its
attainment.

" And they sat down to eat bread : and they lifted up their eyes and looked, and, behold,
a company of Ishmaelites came from Gilead with their camels bearing spicery and balm and
myrrh, going to carry it down to Egypt." — 25.

I There are times when circumstances seem to favour bad men.

Some of us are accustomed to teach that circumstances are the voice of
Divine Providence. There is a sense — a profound sense — in which
that is perfectly true. God speaks by combinations of events, by the
complications of history, by unexpected occurrences. Most undoubtedly
so. We have marked this. In many cases we have seen their moral
meaning, and have been attracted to them as to the cloudy pillar in the
day time and the fire by night. At the same time there is another side
to that doctrine. Here in the text we find circumstances evidently
combining in favour of the bad men who had agreed to part with
their brother. They sat down to eat bread, — perfectly tranquil, social
amongst themselves, a rough hospitality prevailing. Just as they sat

Joseph's Dream loi

down to enjoy themselves with their bread they lifted up their eyes, and
at that very moment a company of Ishmaelites came from Gilead with
their camels. What could be more providential ? They came in the
very nick of time. The brethren hadn't to go up and down hawking
their brother, knocking at door after door to ask if anybody could take
him off their hands ; but at the very moment when the discussion was
pending and anxiety was at white heat, these circumstances so
combined and converged as to point out the way of Providence and
the path of right. Then we ought to look at circumstances with a
critical eye. We ought first to look at moral principles and then at
circumstances. If the morality is right, the eventuality may be taken
as an element worthy of consideration in the debate and strife of the
hour. But if the principles at the very base are wrong, we are not to
see circumstances as divine providences, but rather as casual ways to
the realisation of a nefarious intent. Let us be still more particular about
this. I do not deny that these Ishmaelites came providentially at that
identical moment. I believe that the Ishmaelites were sent by Al-
mighty God at that very crisis, and that they were intended by him to
offer the solution of the difticult problem. But it is one thing for us to
debase circumstances to our own use and convenience, and another to
view them from God's altitude and to accept them in God's spirit.

"And Judah said unto his brethren, What profit is it if we slay our brother, and conceal
his blood ?" — 26.

The very brightest and luckiest idea of all. He touched human
nature to the very quick when he said, What profit is it ? And in-
stantly they seemed to convict themselves of a kind of thickheadedness,
and said one to another, " Ah, to be sure, why no profit at all. Here is
an opportunity of selling him, and that will turn to the account of us
all. Sell is as short a word as slay. Sell ! that will get clear of him.
Let us sell. Sell ! we shall have no blood upon our hands. Then we
shall, perhaps, have a couple of shekels a-piece, and tossing them up in
the air an inch or so, and catching them again, and hearing their plea-
sant chink. This is the plan, to be sure. This is the way out of the
difficulty, W^e are sorry Ave ever thought of shedding blood ; we shake
ourselves from all such imputations. Let us sell the lad, and there will
be an end of the difficulty." Selling does not always take a man out
of difficulty. Bargain-making is not always satisfactory. There is a
gain that is loss ; there is a loss that is gain. There is a separation that
takes the hated object from the eyes, yet that object is an element in
society and in life — working, penetrating, developing— and it will come
back again upon us some day with greater power, with intensified
poignancy ; and the man that was driven away from us a beggar and a
slave may one day rise up in our path, terrible as an avenger, irresistible
as a judgment of God. Well, his brethren were content. Men even
say that they enjoy a very great peace, and therefore that if circum-
stances are tolerably favourable, they say that on the whole they feel in
a good state of mind. Therefore they conclude that they have not been
doing anything very wrong. Let us understand that vice may have a

102 The City Temple

soporific effect upon the conscience and judgment ; that we may work
ourselves into a state of mind as to place ourselves under circumstances
that are factitious, unsound in their moral bearing, however enjoyable
may be their immediate influence upon the mind.

I am struck by this circumstance, in reading the account which is
before me, namely,^ — How possible it is to fall from a rough kind of
vice, such as "let us slay our brother" into a milder form of iniquity, such
as "let us sell our brother," and to think that we have now actually come
into a state of virtue. That is to say, selling as contrasted with slaying
seems so moderate and amiable a thing, as actually to amount to a kind
of virtue. Am I understood upon this point ? We are not to compare
one act with another and say. Comparatively speaking this act is good.
Virtue is not a quantity to be compared. Virtue is an indeclinable
quantity. Comparing themselves with this they became wise. This
kind of comparison has given place to the proverb that there
is " honor among thieves." That is impossible. The thievish
man will have a thievish honor. Brethren, it is true still, and will ever
remain true, that unless we are right at the base, unless we can set our
motives, purposes, intentions, in the full blaze of God's holiness, we
shall become the victims of phrases, we shall be deluded by appearances.
We debase circumstances into teachers of God's providences, which were
meant to be warnings, threatenings, and judgments. Then against com-
parative morality and comparative virtue we are called upon to protest.
I know how easy it is, when some very startling proposition has been
before the mind, to accept a modified form of the proposition, which in
itself is morally corrupt ; and yet to imagine, by the very descent from
the other point, that we have come into a region of virtue. Let me
show you what I mean — in another department of life — by dropping
from the greater to the less. A farmer went to his landlord and said-
knowing him to be a stingy, niggardly man, as all landlords are bound
to be up to a given point — "Will you build me a stable?" "Will I
build you a stable ! No, nothing of the kind ; can't think of such a
thing." "Well," said the farmer, " will you put me up a gate in the
far field ?" " Oh, yes, yes ; put up a gate — that's a different thing alto-
gether." Now, the farmer in the first instance wanted no stable. It
would have been an inconvenience to have had a stable ; but he knew
that if he had in the first instance made the request for the gate he
would have received exactly the same response which was given about the
stable. So when men say, " Let us slay our brother," there is a little
shuddering in society. We don't want to slay our brother. "Well,
then," says an acute man, " let us sell him." And instantly, amiable
christian people say, " Aye, aye, this is a very different thing ; yes, let's
' sell him." Observe, the morality is not changed, only the point in the
, scale has been lowered. When God comes to judge he will not say,
Is this virtue and water ? is this diluted vice ? But, Is this right ? is
this wrong ? The standard of judgment will be the holiness of God.

Now the brethren had to account for what they had done. They
had to make a case, and case-making is a very difticult business if you
are wrong in your morality. There is a good deal of stuccoing and

JosepJis Dream 103

veneering, angling and patching, and stitching and arranging to be
done. We shall say some evil beast hath devoured him, we will dip his
coat in the blood of a goat and say, Judge whether this be thy son's or
not ? Yes, men will one day have to account for the things which ■
make up their life. " We will say," — there is the point. Bad men have .
to argue upon what they were going to say. Bad men could never afford
to be inconsistent and discrepant in their statements. Bad men have
to get together and rub off corners and rectify angles and agree upon
methods of transition from this point to that point. Twelve honest men
have never to get together that they may agree upon this statement and
the next plan. They may go one after another and be judged alone,
and each tell his own story. And when the twelve statements have
been made, there will be little discrepancies, points of inconsistency j
and yet all these admit of being wrought up into an impressive consis-
tency, because the base alone is true, and the intention of each witness
is good. Forty or fifty bad men would never have written such a
Bible as we have. It would have been a smoother Bible ; there would
not have been those apparent discrepancies and inconsistencies ; it
would have been a smooth, easy-flowing, consistent narrative. Observe,
there is a consistency which is suspicious. There is a disagreement
which is only the outcome of a healthy, loving, true, devout nature.

But we have to account how things happen. " We will say," — there
is the point. Now, what shall we say when we go to give an account
of our whole life, if so be that we are not right at the very last ? We
have yet to have an interview with God. According to the teaching of
this book, we do not pass away into the dark unknown without having
intercourse with the great wonderful Power that made us and appointed
us our places. We have to be called in as members of the household,
and each one to tell his own tale, to put his his own view of his history
before Almighty God. Now, is it not worth while our enquiring what
we shall say at last ? Remember the man who came with one talent,
and who said, " I was afraid." Remember the m?ai who endeavoured
to make out that CJod was the blame for it all. The man said, " I knew
that thou wast a hard man, reaping where thou hadst not sown, gather-
ing where thou hadst not strawed, and I went and hid thy talent in the
earth." A poor speech, — a poor account of life to give that ! But
what shall we have to say at the very last? " No minister of Christ
ever spoke to me." If that were true one hour since, it never can be
true again. If you live ages upon ages upon the earth you never can
say from this moment, " No minister of Christ ever spoke to me about
the salvation of life and the accountability of being." "We had not time ?"
Then how did you spend your time ? " We had no capacity to under-
stand." Then you blame God for the intricacy of his revelation and
the difficulty of his call. "We were too bad to be saved." Did you
never hear that Jesus Christ cleanseth from all sin? "There is a foun-
tain open in the house of David for sin and for uncleanness." You
heard the words ? Yes. What did yOu make of them ? Did you
really and truly, deeply and earnestly, consider them ? Did you press
them to give up to you their whole meaning ? I wish to say, with all
distinctness, with all heart, that having looked all round the sinner's

I04 The City Temple

position, so far as I am able to do, I cannot find a single point at which
he can stand and challenge God to fair controversy. I can understand
the urgency, the terrific force, of the enquiry, " How shall we escape if
we neglect so great salvation ?" That I can understand. But how a
man can flatter himself, after having spoiled his life, lived a slave to the
devil, he can yet show Almighty God a good reason for doing so, I
can't comprehend. Blessed are those of you who can go to God and
say, " Though my life has been in many cases weak, poor, frail, blunder-
ing and wrong ; yet, I have earnestly desired to live in the spirit and
to walk in the light of Jesus Christ." It is not because we are perfect
men that we shall be at the last saved and brought into God's
sanctuary ; but because, weak, guilty, and helpless sinners, we have
cast ourselves on the Cross of Christ, the only-begotten, the well-
beloved Son of God. Will any of you do this to-day ? I am getting
anxious about these services now, that we should see some result of
one's labour in this direction. Will any man say, " Up to this moment
I have liked a life of envy, prejudice, weakness. I have tampered with
conscience, and with law, I have been unfaithful to God and to truth,
and to all the better instincts of my own nature. But if there is a way
of salvation, God helping me, I will find it to-day." Were one soul
to say that, there would be joy in the presence of the angels of
God.

The City Tefnple.

REPORT OF A DISCOURSE DELIVERED BY

JOSEPH PARKER,

In Poultry Chapel^ on Thursday Mornings March ind^ 1871.
(the sixty-ninth noonday service.)

GOD'S ABILITY.

Able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think." — Ephesians, iii., lo.

HE apostle Paul, in his epistle to the Ephesians, expresses
himself with a redundance of thankfulness and appreciation
Avhich shows the wonderful depth and richness of his nature.
He does not mete out his words as if by constraint. He
lavishes his heart upon his theme, and, with holy impatience, he urges
word upon Avord, description upon description, that he may give some
faint hint at least of the sublimity by which he is dazzled and of the
joy which lifts liim almost to heaven. In the third chapter we find
such expressions as these : — " The unsearchable riches of grace," " the
manifold riches of God," " the riches of his glory," " the love of
Christ which passeth knowledge," " that ye might be filled with all the
fulness of God." Never was language so inadequate to express the
thought which inspired his mind, and which threw his heart into
ecstacies of inconceivable and unutterable delight. The christian media-
tion seemed constantly to enlarge upon the vision of the apostle. It
K

io6 The City Temple

was never to him a diminishing quantity. Every day he saw in the
scheme of the Christian redemption some new point of hght — felt in it
some new pulse of eternal love. Hence it is a most stimulating and
instructive study to follow the intellectual and spiritual development of
Paul, to find how he grew in grace and knowledge and wisdom, — yet
how at the very last he said, " I count not myself to have attained."
Beyond the giddy peak on which he stood there were sublimer
heights, and he pressed towards the mark, if haply he might scale those
glittering heavenly steeps. In the text he seemed utterly at a loss to
express the fulness of his conception of the grandeur, the riches, the
wisdom, the power, and the love of God. We shall miss the force of
these words unless we understand the prayer in connection with which
they were uttered. The apostle, you observe, does not give this text
as I have given it, namely, as a detached sentence. It is the culmina-
tion of a statement ; it is something that comes after a serious, anxious
effort which he himself has made ; and we must look into the preliminary
statement if we would know how Paul was dazzled, overwhelmed, made
speechless by the infinite capacity of God to transcend all mortal prayer
and all finite imagination. The apostle has been uttering a prayer
which reads thus : — " That he would grant you according to the riches
of his glory to be strengthened with might by his spirit in the inner
man,— able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask :
That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith, — able to do exceed-
ing abundantly above all that we ask : That ye being rooted and
grounded in love, — Able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we
ask : May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the
breadth and length and depth and height, and to know the love of
Christ which passeth knowledge, — Able to do exceeding abundantly
above all that we ask : That ye might be filled with all the fulness of
God, — Able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask."
Reading the prayer in this manner, using the text as a kind of refrain
to each petition, and each petition itself seeming to exhaust the very
mercy and love of God, we get some notion of the apostle's conception
of God's infinite Avealth, infinite grace, and infinite Avillingness to give.
Understand, then, that in coming to God and availing ourselves of the
doctrine of this text, it is incumbent upon us that we should specify
what we want from God. A man of flippant speech, of thoughtlessness
of mind, may say, " I have asked God for ai/. Is he able to do exceed-
ing abundantly above that ?" Yes, because no man knows what "all "
means. The dewdrop has its little all. The Atlantic has its idea of all ;
and the great star-laden firmament, arching over all things underneath
it, has a wider representation still. A man such as I have described
may say, " I have asked God for infinite blessings. Is God able to do
exceeding abundantly above infinite'^ " Yes, as you use the word, be-
cause you don't know what infinite means. You only have your own
little notion about it, and your inch cannot measure the infinitude of
God. But apart from that answer, we are to protest against the doc-
trine that men when they come to God in prayer are to use such words
as "all," "everything," "infinitude," without specification of their
^vants. We must tell God our necessities, interpret to him our hunger

God's Ability icy

and our thirst of soul. We must go to liim M' ith particular, well-defined,
and urgently-pleaded petitions.

Perhaps this may be difficult of realization to some minds. I must
therefore set it in a lower light. Suppose that a number of petitioners
should go to the legislature with a petition worded thus : " We humbly
pray your honourable house to do everything for the nation, to take
infinite care of it, to let the affairs of the nation tax your attention day
and night, and lavish all your resources upon the people." Suppose
that a petition like that should be handed into the House of Commons,
what would be the fate of it ? It would be laughed down, and the only
reason, the only good reason, why the petitioners should not be confined
to Bedlam would be, lest their insanity should alarm the inmates.
That is not a petition. It is void by generality ; by referring to a// it
misses everything. You must specify what you want Avhen you go to
the legislature. You must state your case with clearness ot definition,
and with somewhat of argument. If it be so in our social, political
prayers, shall we go to Almighty God with a vagueness which means
nothing, with a generality which makes no special demand upon his
heart. Read the text in the light of the gospel, and you will see the fulness
of its glory, so far as it can be seen by mortal vision. Ask anything
of God and I am prepared to quote these words of the text in reply.
What will you ask ? Let us in the first instance ask what we all want —
Avhatevermay be our condition, age, circumstances. Let us ask for pardon.
Is your prayer God forgive ray sins ? Now you may apply the apostle's
words : " He is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that you ask."
You cannot conceive God's notion of pardon. You have an idea of
what you mean by forgiveness ; but when you have exhausted your own
notion of the term forgiveness, you have not shown the divine intent
concerning the soul that is to be forgiven. When God forgives, he does
not merely pardon, barely pardon, — he does not by some great straining
effort of his love, just come within reach of the suppliant, and lay upon
his heart the blessing which is besought. He pardons with pardons ! He
multiplies to pardon ! When he casts our sins away, it is not into a shallow
pool, it is into the depths of the sea ; when he throws it away, it is not on
one side, it is behind him. Will you arithmeticians measure the distance
A\'hich is meant by bchitid the infinite ? When God takes a man's sins away
from him, he puts them as far from him as the east is from the west.
Can you tell how far the east is from the west ? It is an expression that
is often upon your lips. Have you ever measured the distance ? You
can't, it is an immeasurable line. So, when God conies to pardon us,
he does not merely pardon, just pardon, by the very uttermost possibi-
lity pardon, but he pardons with pardons, with pardons again and again,
wave upon wave, until we say, " Thou hast done exceeding abundantly
above all that we ask." You see the finite can never grasp the infinite,
and our poor mortal capacities cannot hold God's idea of par-
don. We have, thank God, some notion of forgivness ; but
not until you yourself— as, blessed be God, most of us I trust
have — not ^until you have entered personally into the mystery of this
forgiveness,' can you understand or have any hint of the depth of the

lo8 The City Temple

sea into which God has cast the sins of Avhich we have repented. What
will you ask for now ? Ask for sanctification. Is your prayer sanctify
me body, soul, and spirit ? Then I am ready once more to quote
you the apostle's text : " He is able to do exceeding abundantly above
all that we ask or think." What is your notion of sanctification ? You
have thought about it : it is soon exhausted. When you leave reason
and get into the region of fancy, your imagination soon wearies, and the
description which you give of holiness is after all a negative description.
When I read of God's holiness, I read of holiness that is glorious. God
is said to be glorious in holiness. Do you understand the emphasis of
that redundance ? Holiness would have been a great word to have said
concerning him, but when you add glorious in holiness —

" Imagination's utmost tliought
In wonder dies away."

We know the meaning of innocence ; we know what is implied by the
terms not guilty ; we can describe negatively a high condition of charac-
ter. But God's notion of sanctification ! When we have made our notion
of sanctification clear and plain he sets his own holiness besides it, and
in contrast our purity of development, and our sublimest moral acquisi-
tions become corrupt in the presence of the blazing glory of the divine
purity. This is our destiny if so be we are in Jesus Christ. Holiness is
not something we can describe with sufficiency of terms. It is not a
quantity we can see in its completeness. We cannot walk round about
it and say. This is the limit thereof There is always another ray of
splendour whicli we have not seen, and a brighter beam of the ineftable
effulgence which has not yet struck upon our vision. So when we ask
God to sanctify us, we are to remember that he is is able to do exceed-
ing abundantly above all that we ask or think.

Now, if this be so, it ought to stimulate us in all saintly progress,
to inspire us in the study of divine truth, to recover our jaded energies,
and tempt, lure, and draw us by the mighty compulsion of inexhaustible
reward. This is the peculiar glory of Christian study, that it does not
exhaust the student. His weakness becomes his strength. At sunset
he is stronger than at sunrise ; because Christian study does not tax any
one power of the mind unduly. It trains the whole being, the imagina-
tion, the fancy, the will, the emotion ; lifts up the whole nature equally,
with all the equability of complete power, — not by snatches and spasms
of strength, but with the sufficiency, breadth, and compass of power
which sustains the balance always. This ought to rebuke those of us
who imagine we have finished our christian education. I believe there
are some persons in the world who are under the impression that they
have finished God's book. They say they have " read it through."
There is a poor sense in which it may be read through ; but there is a
deeper, truer sense in which we can never get through the Book of God.
It is an inexhaustible study, — new every day, like morning light. You
have seen splendour before, but until this morning you never saw this
light. So it is with this great wonderful Book of God in the study of it.
God is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think.
The^ hoariest-headed student amongst us this morning who has spent his

God's Ability lOo

days in study, and his nights in prayer, will be the first and most empha-
tic to declare, that the more he has dwelt upon the wonderfulness of
God's revelation the more and more wonderful it has become to all the
highest powers of his nature.

Here then is a stimulus, a spur to progress, a call to deeper study.
We think we have attained truth. We have not attained all that is
meant by the word truth. No man who knows himself and who knows
God will say that he has been led into all the chambers of God's great
palace of truth. This is the sign of progress ; this is the charter of the
profoundest humility. The more we know the less we know. We see
certain points of light here and there, but the great unexplored regions
of truth stretch mile on mile beyond all our power to traverse the won-
drous plain. How is it with us to-day then ? Are we fagged men,
exhausted students ? Do we sit down under the impression that there
is nothing more to be known ? If we have that idea let us seek to recover
our strength and to recover our inspiration by the word, — He is able to do
exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think. There are attain-
ments we have not made, depths we have not sounded, and heights, oh,
heights 1 We can but look up and wonder, expect, adore. If this be so,
we ought to look calmly, with a feeling of chastened triumph, upon all
hinderances, difficulties and obstacles in the way of Christ's kingdom
upon the earth. We may look at these in relation to our own puny
strength, and quail before them. But, we are not to depend upon onr
own resources, but upon God's, in attempting the removal of everything
that would intercept the progress of his holy kingdom in the world.
There is a great mountain : I cannot beat it down, all the instruments
I can bring to bear upon it seem utterly powerless. But God touches
the mountains and they smoke. The Alps, the Appennines, the Pyrennees,
and great Himalayas, shall go up like incense before him, and his kingdom
shall have a smooth uninterrupted way. There are combinations which
I cannot disentangle. Conspiracies of the heathen against God and his
Son, political conspiracies, social combinations, of which I can make
nothing as a poor solitary worker. I can but kneel down before them
and pray God to show the greatness of his strength. In a peculiar man-
ner he will touch the reason of such conspirators and they will become
jabbering maniacs in a moment. Sometimes he will touch the speech
of such conspirators, and they will not understand what they are saying
to one another. Sometimes in passing by, he will touch the earth with
his finger : silently it will open and swallow them up.

I say, in my hours of weakness, yonder is a stone which I cannot
remove. If I could get clear of that obstacle all would be right ;
but the stone is heavy, the stone is sealed, the stone is watched.
What can I do ? I go up the hill wearily, almost hopelessly, and
behold ! the stone is rolled away, and on the obstacle there sits the
angel of God. Able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask
or think ! What then is our christian hope about the world ? Look
at ministers, look at missionaries, look at Sunday-school teachers,
look at writers, look at all the efforts made for the progress of divine
truth upon the earth. Then, on the other hand, look at all the
Paganism that remains unsubdued ; at the idol temples which debase

no The City Temple

and corrupt the world ; look at all the institutions that live upon the
badness of the human heart ! You say, the instrumentality is not equal
to the work. You are right. The straw cannot beat the moun-
tain into flying dust. The hand of man cannot crumble the
great gigantic bulwarks behind which error has entrenched itself.
You are quite right. But God hath chosen the weak things to throw down
the mighty. It is not the straw that does it ; it is the hand that wields
it. Shakespeare dips his pen into the ink and writes Hamlet. I take
up the same pen, dip into the same ink, but I can't write Hamlet. It
is not the pen that does it ; it is the writer. It is not the little instru-
mentahty; it is the God who is able to do, and who has done exceeding
abundantly above all that we ask or think. It is therefore because the
mouth of the Lord hath spoken it, that we now expect to triumph over
the world, and speak of all nations as if they belonged to the Son of God.
If the doctrine of the text be true, then it should fill all bad men with
terror. We should regard this text as a two-sided text. We are always
accustomed to regard it as affording comfort to the christian heart, strength
to the toiling pilgrim who moves heavenward day by day. The text
does supply all that is needful for the encouragement and strength of
such. But it has a tremendous back-stroke. The word of God is sharper
than any two-edged sword — mighty for the gaining ot victories, but terrible
to those who feel its cutting power.

You have a certain notion of hell. We can't tell what is meant by
that awful word. We speak of the worm that dieth not and the fire
that is not quenched. But what do we know about the words which
involve so much? We can't tell what is meant by everlasting
punishment. Modify the doctrine of hell as you please, — dilute the
term " everlasting punishment" as you like, — a\'ail yourselves of all the
resources of etymology to the furthest possible extent, that you may
reduce the limit and application of certain words ; — when you have
done all, it must remain a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the
living God ! There are moments that are eternities. It is the nature
of all pain to have itself described as an everlasting punishment.
Inflict some wound upon yourself now, and the next hour will feel as if
it were a day : you feel as if it would never, never pass away. It is of
the nature of punishment to force itself upon the suff"erer as everlasting
penalty. Joy hath wings. Joy filling the hour, the hour flies away,
and we say, It cannot be gone already ! Yes. It is there we read the
meaning of the words eternal life. Don't let us imagine that because
we may have this notion or that peculiar or heterodox exception
about the punishment that awaits the sinner, that therefore we have
diluted the notion to nothing. When we have done our utmost in that
direction, God is able to do exceeding abundantly all that we
think. The oppressor says, " Well, if it has come to this I am prepared
to bear it." No, you are not prepared to bear it ! When I say it is
this, I use human words in a human sense ; but when God says it is
this, I cannot tell all his meaning. When the poor man who has twelve
shillings a week says that a certain person is rich, that is one meaning
of the word rich. When the man who has ten thousand pounds a year
speaks of the same individual, perhaps he might say he is poor. So

God's Ability i i i

words have difterent meanings as used by dififerent persons. Every man
must be his own dictionary. You must look at the speaker before you
can understand some speeches. You must look at the etymologist
before you can understand the etymology. So when God says he will
utterly destroy the wicked, remember that it is God who says so,
and don't measure the word by your poor lexicography.

It may be difficult for some minds to follow the argument out
spiritually ; Ave must therefore descend to illustration. Here is a very
clever artist, who has made a beautiful thing he brings before us, and
we gather round it and say, " It is most exquisitely done. What is this,
sir?" " That," replies the artist, " is my notion of a flower, and I am
going to call that flower a rose." " Well, it is a beautiful thing, — very
graceful, and altogether beautifully executed : you are very clever." So
he is, and now that exhausts his notion of the rose. But let God just
hand in a full-blown rose from the commonest garden in the world, and
where is your waxen beauty ? Underneath every leaf is written, " He is
able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think." Let
him just send the sweet spring morning in upon us, with the first
violet, and all your artificial florists, if they have one spark of wit left,
will pick up their goods and go off as soon as possible. He is able to
do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think. The meanest
insect that flutters in the warm sunlight is a grander thing than the
finest marble statue ever chiselled by the proudest sculptor.

Now we are going to have a very festive day. We are going to
pluck flowers and fashion them into arches, and we shall make our
arches very high, very beautiful, — and so far as the flowers go, they are
most gorgeously and exquisitely beautiful. We have put up the wires ;
we have festooned these wires, and we say, " Now, is not that very beauti-
fully done ? " and of course, we who always drink the toast " our noble
selves," say yes. But God has only to take a few rain-drops and strike
through them the sunlight, and where are your past-board arches and
your skiltul working ! He is able to do exceeding abundantly above
all that we can ask or think. My fellow-students, in this holy mystery,
believe me, as in nature, so in the higher kingdom of grace. As in
matter he beats all your sculptors, and is in all schools infinitely
superior to men, so in the revelation of truth to the heart, in
the way of redeeming man from sin, in the way of sanctifying
fallen corrupt human nature, — all your theorists and speculators, all your
plaster dealers and social reformers and philanthropic regenerators, must
get out of the way as artificial florists when God comes to us with the
rose of Sharon and the lily of the valley.

Then let us leave all inferior teachers and go straight to the Master
himself. We have to deal with sin, and the only answer to sin, which
answer is comprehended in one word, is the Cross. God's foolish-
ness is better than our wisdom. God's weakness is infinitely superior to
our strength. " Ho every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters." If
you choose to make your own cisterns, broken cisterns, to hold no water,
you may do so. Let others of us say. As for us and our house, we will
go — poor, guilty, heart-thirsty sinners as we are — to the fountain of living

112 The City Temple

waters, and if we perish, we will pray and perish only there ! No dead
men have I ever found at that fountain. I have found ten thousand
dead men by your ill-hewn cisterns. No dead man have I ever found
with his hand on the Cross, — with his lips at the well of life.

Almighty God, thy riches are unsearchable. The hosts of heaven are
Thine, so are the gold and the silver and the cattle upon a thousand
hills. The earth is the Lord's, and the fulness thereof As for Thy love
it is boundless, and we will say with thy church in all ages. Thy mercy
endureth for ever. We would therefore come boldly unto the throne of
grace that we may obtain mercy, and that we may iind grace to help in
time of need. Every time is a time of need. We humbly beseech Thee
therefore to dwell with us. Abide in our heart as in a redeemed and
chosen house. Save us in the hour of temptation ! Deliver us from all
evil influences ! Establish our hearts in the love of Christ, that we may
never depart from the living God. Grant unto us now to know some-
what of the fulness of thy love, the infinitude of thy nature, the depths
of thy heart, the tenderness of thy compassion ! May we be filled with
amazement, overwhelmed by visions of thy glory, encouraged and
strengthened by assurances of thy goodness. We abide near the cross ;
we lay our hands upon the one sacrifice for sin, — Jesus Christ, Son of
Man and Son of God. As we look upon Him crucified, we say with all
our heart, God be merciful unto us sinners ! Prepare us now to wait
upon thee with profitableness and joy. Shed upon us the light above
the brightness of the sun. Assure us of thy nearness by the interpretation
of thy blessed word to our anxious hearts and enquiring minds. May
we see the Lord's beauty, and feel that the Lord's hand is upon us.
Unto the Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost, whom we adore as
one God, be the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, worldwithout
end. Amen.

The City Temple,

REPORT OF A DISCOURSE DELIVERED BY

JOSEPH PARKER,

In Poultry Chafel^ on Thursday Mornings March ^thj 1871,

(the seventieth noonday service.)

JOSEPH'S CAPTIVITY.

" And Joseph was brought down to Egypt ; and Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, captain
of the guard, an Egyptian, bought him of the hands of the Ishmaehtes, which had brought him
down thither." — Genesis, xxxix., i.

P to this time we hear next to nothing of what Joseph himself
said or thought about the pecuhar, the romantic, and the
distressing circumstances under which he was placed. It
occurs to me, however, to call attention to one observation of
his, omitted in our last reading. You remember that Joseph had
two remarkable dreams, in both of which his own prospective supre-
macy was broadly indicated. He dreamed that all other sheaves
bowed down before his sheaf. He dreamed, also, that the sun and
the moon and the eleven stars made obeisance to him ; and yet, whilst
these dreams were in his recollection, his father called to him and
L

114 '^^''■^ ^^^y ^i'^^pi^

proposed that he should go to see whether it was well with his brethren
and well with the flocks. When Jacob made this proposition, the
dreaming, the prospectively great man, instantly, humbly, with filial
simplicity and love, answered, " Here am I." There is a lesson, in this
reply, to some of you young men, perhaps, who have dreams of future
greatness,— who see sheaves falling down before your sheaf, and see
the hosts of heaven making obeisance to you. Meanwhile, if you are
children, obey your parents in the Lord. If you are servants, do the
day's work, not with the hireling's niggardliness, but with a servant's
noble trust, with self-expenditure, with an attention which commands
confidence, and with a diligence that ought to merit reward. It is
always a great pity when a man's dreams destroy his strength for
' practical work and his interest in the affars that are round about him.
No man can live healthily on dreams. If the dreamer be not superior
to his dreams, in the meantime, then he will become the victim of
fancies ; he will be led about under the enchantment of the most
mocking delusions ; and he who might, by humbly, patiently, and nobly
waiting, have become a great man, will subside into common-place, and
leave no recollection for which the world or his friends in particular will
thank him.

This is nearly all that we hear of Joseph's own speech. Up to
this time he has been to a large extent silent. In the verse before us
we hear nothing of his thoughts or of his speech. How is this ? The
' deepest things in life are never told. When men are in their greatest
' sorrows they are often also in the deepest silence. There are crises in
^ life when we cannot speak, — we are stunned, overwhelmed, dismayed.
We look almost vacant to observers whose eyes are upon us. They
cannot understand our speechlessness ; whilst they themselves are
under such great excitement, they wonder at our passivity. There is an
excitement that is passive ; there is a passion that is latejot; there is a
vehemence of feeling wliich is often kept under restraiiitr''~Meii inis-
understand us because, in our sorest experiences, we do not exclaim
aloud, we do not protest against the injury which is being inflicted upon
us : we are led off in silence, and we seem to justify those who injure
us by want of protest and argument and vehement denial of the justice
which is being accorded to us. Learn that there is a sublimity of
silence. There are two ways of enduring the wi'ongs of life. An ex-
clamatory, eftusive, protesting style of endurance ; and a silent, calm,
dignified endurance of trial, scourge, injury, injustice, wrong. The quiet
man has suftering as well as the stormy man ; and not always those who
protest most loudly feel most keenly the impression which the iron is
making on their souls.

" And the Lord was with Joseph, and he was a prosperous man ; and he was hi the house
of his master the Egyptian." — a.

There are many ways in which the Lord is with a man. Not
always by visible symbol ; seldom by an external badge which we
can see and read. God is with a man in the suggestion of thought ; in
the animation of high, noble, heavenly feeling ; in the direction of his

Joseph's Captivity 115

steps ; in the direction of his speech, enabHng him to give the right look,
the right answer at the right time under the right circumstances ; giving
him tlie schoohng which he could never pay for, training him by methods
and processes unknown in human schools, and not to be understood
except by those who have past under them. " If any man lack wisdom
let him ask of God." Ideas are the gifts of God, as w-ell as wheat fields ,
and vineyards and other fruits of the earth. Suggestions in business,
delivering thoughts in the time of extremity, silence when it is better '
than speech, speech when it will do more than silence. " These also
come forth from the Lord of Hosts, who is wonderful in counsel and
excellent in working." The Lord was with Joseph and yet Joseph was .
under Potiphar. These are the contradictions and anomalies of life
which ill-taught souls can never understand, and which become to them
mysteries which torment their spirits and which distract their love.
Undoubtedly this is an anomalous state of life : Joseph brought down to •
Egypt by his purchasers, — Joseph sold into the house of Potiphar, —
bought and sold and exchanged like an article of merchandise. Yet, he .,
was a prosperous man ! Understand that there are difficulties which
cannot impair prosperity, and that there is a prosperity which dominates
over all external circumstances and vindicates its claim to be considered
a divine gift. Looking at this case through and through, one would say,
it is hardly correct to assert that Joseph was a prosperous man, when '
he was to all intents and purposes in bondage, when he was the property '
of another, when not one hour of his time belonged to himself, when he
was cut off" from his father and from his brethren. Yet, it is distinctly
stated that, notwithstanding these things, the Lord was with him and he
was a prosperous man.

There must be a lesson for some of us here. When men live in 1
their circumstances they never can be prosperous. When a man has to
go out into his wheat-field to know whether there is going to be a good '
crop before he can really enjoy himself, — that man does not knov/ what
true joy is. When a man has to read out of a bank-book before he dare '
take one draught out of the goblet of happiness, — that man's thirst for
joy will never be slaked. Man cannot live in wheat-fields and bank- •
books and the things of the present world. If he cannot live within
himself, in the very sanctuary and temple of God, then he is at the ,
sport of every change of circumstance, — one shake of the telegraph wire
may unsettle him, and the cloudy day may obscure his hopes and darken
what little soul he has left. If Joseph had lived in his external circum-
stances he might have spent his days in tears and his nights in hopeless- 1
ness ; but living a religious life, living with God, walking with God,
identifying his very soul's life v/ith God, then the dust had no sovereignty
over him, external circumstances were under his teet. This is the
solution of many of our difficulties. Given a man's relation to God "
anci you have the key of his whole life. If that relation be disturbed,
unequal, distracted, unsatisfactory, never bringing light and peace unto
his heart and mind, then whatsoever prosperity (so called) may attend
his outward life, it is but a gilded coating which will be worn off by '
time, and which cannot stand the test of the greatest crises of life.
Understand then, my dear young fellow-students in particular, how possi-

Ii6 The City Temple

ble it is to be an exile, a slave, cut off from father and mother and home
and friendship, and yet to be a prosperous man. The man lies deeper
than the slave. The christian is, so to speak, higher than the man. He
who has the bread of heaven to eat spends his life in the very banquet-
ting-hgus? of God,

" And his master saw that the Lord was with him, and that the Lord made all that he
did to prosper in his hand." — 3.

There is something about a religious man that is not to be found
about any other man. Pagans can see whether God is with us.
Heathens and idolatrous men have some notion of our religious posi-
tion, our religious thinking, our religious relationships. Potiphar knew
nothing about the true God, yet saw in this fair-faced youth something
he had not seen before. Such is the mysterious working of the higher
life in a man. How did Potiphar see that the Lord was with Joseph ?
Because Joseph made long religious speeches to him whenever he had
a spare hour? It is not said so here. Because Joseph wrote out in
illuminated characters a brilliant religious creed ? hung it up in his bed-
chamber, or bound it round his forehead ? It is not said so in the text.
Potiphar saw that the Lord was with him because all that he did pros-
pered. You can only get at some minds through external phenomena,
through circumstances, through evidence that appeals to the senses. It
was not through the deepest religious things that Potiphar came to
understand that the Lord was with Joseph ; but reasoning from the out-
side to the interior, he came to the conclusion that, as a mysterious
and unmingled prosperity attended everything this yoim^nian did,
there was no solution for such a state of things but a religious'~sDltrtiaii.
This man is the Lord's servant, and the Lord's crown of approbation
rests upon his honoured head. How far is it possible to be any man's
servant, and yet to conceal from that man that we know the true God ?
A nice problem in casuistry ! How long may a man be in the
warehouse of his employer, and his employer never have the dimmest
conception that the man knows that there is so much as a God in the
universe ? Some of us have a very skilful way of concealing our reli-
gion. Perhaps you have been in the employment of your master seven
years, and your master is surprised and startled to find that you are a
member of a church, that you take the Lord's supper from time to time.
Now, there ought to be ways of revealing the deepest life. We ought
not to be all surface. There ought to be subtleties of expression, of move-
ment, mysteries of conduct, which cannot be explained on any other
ground than that we take our soul's law from the lips of the Eternal,
and that we never do anything without first seeking the sanction and
benediction of God. Oh, but some of us are exceedingly afraid of what
we term cant ! We can produce the evidences of our Christianity with-
out saying a word. You can't talk to some men without being the
better, even for five minutes, in their company. It was said of one of
our great English statesmen that you could not meet him under an arch
during a rain shower without being impressed with the fact that he was

Josef Hs Captivity 117

a remarkable man. "We can understand that very well. There is in-
fluence in the expression of the countenance, in the glance of the eye, '
in the tone of the voice, in the little courtesies of life, in the small
things which your prodigiously great men hold in contempt. Some
men speak light. Some men bring with them the terribleness of judg-
ment, when we are doing anything in their presence that is mean,
sneaking, cowardly, unworthy of manhood. We feel, when they get
round about us, that they are like a flame — piercing, scorching at every _
point. Yet they never preach to us, they never lecture to us, they
never go over the points of their theology to us : still, it is as impossi-
ble to disbelieve their sincerity and nobility as it is to deny the ■
shining of the sun at noonday.

Perhaps we ought to pause here to point out that prosperity of the
kind to which Potiphar referred is not always granted to men in vindica-
tion of their christian sincerity and filial relation to God. Sometimes
our manner of bearing adversity is the seal of our sonship : our patience
under failure, our magnanimity in the line of trial, our hopefulness and
chastened cheerfulness when the east wind is blowing and the clouds
are thick and threatening. This may testify that we have learned of
God. It is enough, therefore, to lay down this doctrine broadly, then :
When a man loves the Lord and his ways please the Lord, there will
be some opportunity of showing the man is not all surface, but
that he has a deep true christian heart, that he is a child of God, a
son of light.

" And it came to pass from the time that he had made him overseer in his house, and
over all that he had, that the Lord blessed the Egyptian's house for Joseph's sake ; and the
blessing of the Lord was upon all that he had in the house and in the field." — 5.

One man blessed for the sake of another. Here is a great law, — here
is a special lesson for many. A man looks at his property, and reasons
that he must be good, and approved of God, otherwise he never could
have so many blessings in his possession. It never enters the man's
mind that he has every one of these blessings for the sake of another
man. The master blessed because he has a good servant ! Would to
God I could speak thunder-claps and speak lightning to many thousands
in our city and throughout our land to-day upon this very matter ! Here
is a man, for example, who never enters a place of worship. No, no, —
not he. His wife is a member of the church, and if ever she is five
ininutes late in on Sunday, his mighty lordship foams and fumes, and is
not going to be put upon in this way, and have his household arrange-
ments upset by these canting, fanatical, religious people. What shall I call
him ? The wretch, the almost-devil, owes every penny he has to his dis-
honoured praying wife. If that woman — the only angel in God's universe
that cares for his soul — were to cease praying for him, God might rain
fire and brimstone upon him and his dwelling-place. He does not
know it. No ! He is shrewd, cunning, wide-awake, has his eyes open,
knows when the iron is hot and when to strike it, and he is such a won-
derful genius in business. A maniac — not knowing that it is his praying
^\ife that saves him from ruin, meanwhile from hell !

/

Il8 The City Temple

Here is another man who thinks it manly to blaspheme, swear, and
use profane language upon every opportunity, and to ridicule religion
and religious people. He knows that it is all wrong. He has revela-
tions from the nasty little god that he worships that everybody in the
world is all wrong but himself. And that man prospers ! His fields are
verdant in spring-time, his crops are rich and golden in autumn. If you
speak a word to him about religion he laughs at you, and intimates, in a
not very roundabout manner, that you are a fool. And he owes all he

1 has to a little invalid girl, who believes in God and prays to him, and
connects the house with Heaven ! God blesses one man for the sake of

, another. The husband is blessed because of the godliness of the wife.
The parent is honoured because of the Christianity of the child. The
strong man has prospered in his way because of the poor weak
creature in his house who is mighty in soul towards God and truth.
Yet these are the elements and the facts Avhich are so often overlooked
when men take stock and tell what they are worth. Ten men keep
that brimstone-and-fire shower back. The righteous are the salt of the
earth. The true, loving and God-fearing are the light of the world. But
for them would God be patient with the world ? What would it be,
with his great power, to crush your little world, to pulverize
and throw it away on the flying winds and forget it ? It is Paul that

' saves the vessel on the stormy Adriatic. It is Joseph that blesses the
house of Potiphar. It is the ten praying men that save the Sodoms of
the earth from the lightning showers of judgment.

And this is God's plan all through. There is one man for whose

' sake all other men are blessed. This is the principle of mediation
which runs through all the divine government of man. "If any man

■ sin we have an advocate with the Father." When we go to God with
the story ot our sin and the cry of our penitence, we are heard, not for
our own fake, but for the sake of Jesus Christ. It is the same principle, —
the principle of interposition, the ministerial, mediational principle, — on
v> hi ch he conducts his government of human society. Does any poor
guilty man wait to talk to God to-day then ? Here is the instruction
which I have for such a man. It will be for Christ's sake that God will
hear you. And as long as Christ's name sanctifies and elevates your
petitions you may pray on. There is no prayer long that gushes from
the heart, that rises to God through the mediation of Christ.

After this Joseph had to encounter the great moral crisis of his life.
He has already past over what I may term the social crisis, the physical
crisis. He has come out of that crisis calm, strong, reliant upon God.

I And now the great temptation seizes him, — is aimed at him at least.
Haply it cannot touch him. ^Vhat is his answer to the temptation ?

I This. God ! And remember, my dear friends, there is no other true
answer. A^Tien the tempter comes, when the enchantress stands
there, what is the reply of the youth ? God ! And he is more than
conqueror. How can I do this great wickedness and sin against God ?
A man must go back upon his religious principles when he is tempted ;
he must not try to prove to the individual in question that it is in-
expedient, that it is ^vTong ; he must not quote the example of the man

Joseph's Caftivity 119

who has sinned before him. He must take wing, and get away to God ! '
And from the height of God's throne he must answer the temptation,
and when he does so he wiU be more than conqueror. What are we,
if we have not struggled against evil, — if we have not proved our man-
hood, given to us of God, on the battle-field ? You are tempted to put
forth your hand and steal ; and ere you touch the forbidden property,
you thought of God and recoiled, and you are now the stronger man
for temptation overcome. There are temptations in life — tempta-
tions at every turning of the street — temptations in all the evolutions of
daily circumstances — temptations that come suddenly — temptations
that come unexpectedly — temptations that come flatteringly.
There is no true, all conquering, all triumphant answer [to the
temptation of the devil but this,— 6^^^/ .'' Be deep in your religion, '
have foundations that are reliable, know your calling, and God will
protect you when the time of battle and storm and flood shall come.
He will do it, if so be we put our trust in Him.

Brethren, what is the cure for all that we have seen in the case of
Joseph that is bad ? For the envy of brothers, the malice of those
that ought to be our saintly protectors from all evil-mindedness, from
all worldly passion, from all selfishness, from all prejudice ? What is '
the cure ? The cure is crucifixion with the Son of God ! Except we
be crucified with Christ we shall have no hidden power. Except we
know the fellowship of His suff'erings we shall be foiled in the day of
attack. There is one life that touches all other life beneficently,
benignly, redeemingly, — that is the life of Jesus Christ. To those who
need the exhortation, let me say : — Read that life with an attention you
have never bestowed upon it before, with special desire to know the
meaning of that mysterious life, and you will see that there is no point
ofjhujjiafi- experience which it does not touch. Nothing has been for-
gotten, nothing overlooked. All sin, weakness, shame, fear, greatness,
littleness — all man — has been comprehended within the scheme of that
life, and has been redeemingly touched by the mighty power of the
Son of God, who is also God the Son. May our morning lesson be
meat for the whole week !

I20 The City Temple

Almighty God, seeing that dark clouds and darkness are round about
Thee, may Ave know of a surety, for our comfort and strengthening
in all good things, that righteousness and judgment are the habitation
of Thy throne. Be Thou Thyself near to us, so that our weakness may
itself become a source of strength, and so that every stroke of Thy rod
may be sanctified to the well-being of our souls. We would regard all
human life as a revelation of God. Work in us that quiet and saintly
patience which humbly waits for the solution of all mysteries and the
removal of high mountains which oppose our access to the perfect
light of Thy presence. Be Thou Thyself the answer to every tempta-
tion that assails our heart. Be the defence of our peculiar weaknesses,
and when sorrows thicken round us, do Thou give new interpretations of
Thy love, that we may recover our faith and praise Thee with a louder,
sweeter voice. We would walk all our days hand in hand with Jesus
Christ. We would put our feet in His foot-prints. We would keep our
eyes steadily fixed upon his Cross. There would we pray for the par-
don of our sins, the sanctification of our nature, and the perfect
redemption of our whole life ! We gather round the Cross to-day. We
are bound by its great attraction ; and we take hope that our
sins may be forgiven, because the blood of Christ cleanseth from
all sin. Put within us Thy Holy Spirit. Direct the way of our
life from time to time. May we be humble, courageous, hopeful, child-
like, patient with God and patiently waiting for God, lest by our
impetuosity we interrupt Thy providences and divert the stream of Thy
love. We need no other guide but Thee. In God we find redemption,
justification, holiness, and all the blessings of a glorious destiny. Keep
our hearts in this faith, then shall our life be strong and pure. Amen,

The City Temple.

REPORT OF A DISCOURSE DELIVERED BY

JOSEPH PARKER,

In Poultry Chapel, on Thursday Morning, March i6, 1871,

(the seventy-first noonday service.)

JOSEPH IN PRISON.

" And Joseph's master took him, and put him into the prison, a place where the king's
prisoners were bound : and he was there in the prison." — Genesis, xxxix., 20.

ilE know enough of the history of Joseph, from the previous
readings, to know that he was unworthy — he had not done
anything worthy of — imprisonment and pain. Let us keep
steadily in mind the fact that there are false accusations in
human life. There is a tendency to believe charges against men with-
out patiently and carefully going into particulars, without making such
moral inquest into them as ought alone to justify our belief in any
charge that may be made against a human creature. We are prone to
say, when an accusation is lodged against a man, " After all there must
be something in it." We reason that.it is impossible to get up a charge
against a man without that charge having, at least, some foundation.
We think it charitable to add, " That probably it is not quite so bad as

M

122 The City Temple

it looks, yet after all there must be something in it." Here is a case in
which that doctrine does not hold true at all. There is nothing in this
but infamy. May it not be so amongst ourselves to-day ? Has human
nature changed ? Are there not to-day tongues that lie, hearts that are
inspired by spite ? We are in danger, I think, of being very pathetic
indeed over historical characters, and forgetting the claims of modern
instances. There are people who will be exceedingly vehement in their

' pity for Joseph, who can say spiteful or unkind words about their neigh-
bour who is labouring under an accusation quite as groundless and quite
as malicious as that which ended in the imprisonment of Joseph. There

, are Inen who will preach eloquent sermons about the fall of the apostle
Peter who will yet, in the most unchristian spirit, expel and anathematise
brethren who have been overtaken in a fault. And the worst of it is,
they are apt to think that they show their own righteousness by being
very vehement against the shortcomings of other people.

Now, history is wasted upon us if we do but shed tears for the ill-

I used men of far-gone centuries. See how easy it is to do mischief ! You
insinuated against a certain man that there was something wrong in his
case. You never can withdraw your insinuation. You lie against your

• fellow-creature, and then apologise. You can't apologise for a lie !

' Your lie will go where your apology can never follow it. And men who
heard both the lie and the apology will, with a cowardice that is un-
pardonable, say, when occasion seems to warrant their doing so, " That
they have heard that there was something or other about him, but they
can't tell exactly what it Avas." So mischief goes on from year to year,
and a lie is in the meantime more powerful than the truth. It is always
easier to do mischief than to do good. Let us, then, be careful about
human reputation. The character is the man. It is better to believe
all things, hope all things, endure all things, in the interests of Christ's
blessed charity, than to be very eager to point out even faults that do exist.
There are men to-day who are suffering from accusations as false as the
lie of Potiphar's wife. There are other men who have been sinned
against by false accusations who have received withdrawments and
apologies. But such, alas ! is the state of so-called christian charity,
that though we have a memory for the indictment, we have no recollection
for what ought to have been a triumphant, all-inclusive and all-delivering
vindication. Terrible is the state of that man who has a good memory
for insinuations, charges, innuendoes, and bad suggestions, but no recol-
lection for things that are beautiful, and healing, and redeeming and
helpful. That man's destiny is to wither away into a devil.

" But the Lord was with Joseph, and showed him mercy, and gave him favour in the
sight of the keeper of the prison."— 21.

What a poor compensation I The man's character is taken away,
and the Lord gives him favour in the sight of a jailor ! There are
honours in life which are aggravations. My name is blasted, my home
is broken up, my whole life is withered right away down into the roots,
and on either side there is a turnkey somewhere who says he has great
confidence in me ! Why not ha\'e vindicated the man before Potiphar ?

Joseph in Prison 123

■\Vhy not have withered up the wretch that took away his dear fair
name ? I'hat would have been compensation. If when the women's
iiiouth had opened to tell the lie God had locked her jaw, that would
have been vindication. Instead of that, Joseph has the wonderfully
good luck of being thought well of by a jailor. This is the danger of
our criticism. We mistake the process for the result. We rush at the
semicolon as if it were a full stop. We judge God by the fraction, not •
by the integer. I am prepared to grant that if the whole scene had
ended here — if this had really been the culminating point, the comple-
tion of the sad romance — the favour which Joseph received of his jailor
would have been a mockery, and he might have thrown such favour
back in the face of God, as a poor compensation for the injury which
had gone like iron into his soul, for suffering which had destroyed his
sleep and turned his days into wintry nights.

The difficulty of the critic is to be patient. He is so anxious to
make a point that he often ruins himself by his own sagacity. He jumps
in upon the way of God with such impetuosity that he has to spend the
remainder of his days in apologising for his rudeness, his want of patient
saintly dignity in waiting until God himself said, " It is finished." Still,
the point of the favour accorded to Joseph by the jailor ought not to be
forgotten in making up our own view of life, for this reason : — We shall
redeem ourselves from much suffering, help ourselves towards a nobler,
stronger, manlier endurance, by looking at the one bright point which remains
in our life. Is there any life here that has in it no speck of light ? Any
day that has not in it one blue spot ? What is the moral use and pur-
pose of a^lint of light and speck of blue } It is a reminder that there
is still light ; that the blue morning may come back again ; and that
God hath not — though the day be dark and cloudy and the wind be
bitterly cold — forgotten to be gracious. Our honours may chafe us. We
may reason from them that having so much we ought to have more.
What we require, when such impatience has reached us, is a devout,
urgent desire that God will tame our impetuosity, and teach us the
sweet mystery and the mighty power of child-like waiting.

" And it came to pass after these things, that the butler of the king of Egypt and his
baker had offended their lord the king of Egypt. And Pharaoh was wroth against two of his
ofhcers, against the chief of the butlers, and against the chief of the bakers. And he put them
in ward m the house of the captain of the guard, into the prison, tlie place where Joseph
was bound." — xL, i — 3.

No man liveth unto himself. There is a little fratch in the king's [
house, and, somehow or other, that will be linked with all these
events that are transpiring a little way ofi". You run against a man in
the dark ; he remonstrates with you in a vexed tone, and in that vexed
tone your hear the voice of your own long-lost brother. You go over
the street without knowing what you have gone for, and you meet the
destiny of your life. A child tells you its little dream, and that dream
awakens some blessed memory which throws light upon some dark and
frowning place in your Ufe. Some people don't beheve in dramas, not
knowing that all life is an involved ever-moving, ever-evolving drama.
Life is a composition of forces. It is a wet Thursday morning, and you

124 The City Temple

have nothing particular to do. You see people going up a certain gate-
way, and you say, '' I think I'll go in, just to see what's going on." And
there a man rouses your conscience, sets fire to some bad resolution and
turns your heart towards the face of God. The chief butler gives Pharaoh the

' cup with a fly in it, and the chief baker spoils his baking. These things are to
be added to some other things, and out of this combination there is to arise
one of the most pathetic and beautiful incidents to be found in all the
treasure-house of history. We do not know what is transpiring around
us, and how we are to be linked on to collateral processes. There is a
main line in our life ; there are also little branch lines. You jostle against
a man, and get into conversation with him, and learn from him

, what you would have given gold for had you known where it was
to be found. Everything in life has a meaning. Mistakes have

■ their meanings. . Misunderstandings will often lead to the highest
harmonies. No man can do without his fellow-men. It is a very
sad thing indeed that we have to be obliged in any sense to a butler
or a baker. But we can't help it. It is no good our attempting to
shake out of the sack the elements we do not like. We cannot colonise
ourselves in some fairy-land, where we can have everything just accord-
ing to our pick and choice. The labourer in the streets, the child in
the gutter, the poor suffering wretch in the garret, — all these, as well as
your kings and priests, have to do with the grand up-making and myste-
rious total of the thing we call human life. God is always coming down

' to us through unlikely paths, meeting us unexpectedly, causing bushes
to flame and become temples of His presence. We go out for our

■ father's asses ; we may return crowned men. There are some people
who don't like religion because it is so mysterious, not knowing that their

• own life is a constantly-progressing mystery. Whenever they would
deliver themselves from the presence of mystery they must deliver them-
selves from their very existence.

" And they dreamed a dream both of them, each man his dream in one night, each man
according to the interpretation of his dream, the butler and the baker of the king of Egypt,
which were bound in the prison." — 5.

The chief butler told his dream to Joseph, and Joseph said unto
him. This is the interpretation of it. There are dreamers and there are
dream interpreters. There are men who live by their ideas. Live !
No ; that was a slip of the tongue. Men who seem to be able to do
nothing, and yet society could not get on without them. You see
yonder fifty men building a great house, and there is a man standing
amongst them with his hands in his pockets, and that awful thing, a
" black coat" on. You say the fifty men are building the house, and
a lazy kind of man is standing there with his hands in his pockets, and
your notion of political economy is that such men ought to be put
down. Well, put them down, and you will have no more building. The
men that are standing there, apparently doing nothing, are the inspira-
tion of the whole thing. Men in the world — poor, poor men — who have
nothing but ideas ! If they were to sell bricks, they would eventually
retire into detached villas and croquet lawns. But, if they have nothing

, Joseph in Prison 125

but ideas, they retire into the workhouse. A man builds a bridge, and
he is a great man ; another man puts up a cathedral, and he too is a
great man. I won't take away one iota from the just fame and honour
of such men. We can't do without them. AVe should be poor if we
hadn't such men amongst us. They are the glory of civilization. But
is it nothing to give a man an idea that shall change his life ? to tame
the tiger heart and make it gentle as a lamb's ? to put into man
thoughts, and stir in him impulses, that shall heal him in his sorrows,
chasten him in his joys, interpret to him the darkest problems of his
life, and hold a light over his way when he passes into the wonderful
dark Unknown ?

The preacher does not build stone cathedrals. But does he not
build temples not made with hands ? He cannot take you out and say,
" See these mighty stoneworks what I have done ! " But he may be
able, through God's mighty grace, to say, " Look at that man : once he
was the terror of his neighbourhood, the torment of his family, and now
he is a strong, pure, kind man." Is that nothing? Your stoneworks
will crumble ; time will eat up your pyramids. But this man, this soul,
shall be a glorious unlading light when your world, and all the wondrous
works upon it, shall be burned up. Be cheered then, preacher of the
gospel, teacher of the young, obscure one who can only work in the
family, giving direction to young thought and young feeling, dropping
into the opening heart seeds of divine truth ! Thou art doing a work
Avhich, though it can't be valued by any human figures or by any
arithmetic, is prized, and shall be rewarded, by God, who is not un-
unrighteous to forget your work of faith and your labour of love.

Life is a dream, a riddle, a mystery, a difficult problem. But there
is one Interpreter. What is his name ? Where can he be found ? His
name is Jesus Ghrist, and he can be found wherever there is a heart that
wants him. You have a dream — you cannot call it by any other name —
about sin. You know there is something wrong somewhere. You can't
explain it ; you can't set it down in order, proposition after proposition.
It is as unsubstantial as a dream and impalpable as a vision. Yet it
haunts you, and you want to know more about it. Christ is the
interpreter, and He alone can explain what sin is, show it in its
reality, and give the soul to feel how terrible a thing it is. You have
dreams about truth. Sometimes you see an image that you think is the
very angel of truth herself. Sometimes that angel comes quite near you,
and you are almost on the point of laying your hand on the glittering
vision. You can't quite do so. It leaves you, escapes you, mocks you !
Jesus Christ is the interpreter of that dream. He knows truth, he re-
veals truth, he sanctifies man by truth, he enriches the human mind with
truth, and he alone has the truth. Why? Because he is the truth. It
is one thing to have a truth. It is then a possession, something to be
pointed out and described. It is another thing to be the truth. Christ
himself had not the truth in our poor sense of the term, for he was the
truth. He did not so much preach the gospel as be the gospel. You
are conscious of glimmerings of objects, dreamings about better states of
things. You have a moral nature that now and again gives you hints
about right and wrong, and truth and falsehood. You have an imagina-

126 The City Temple

tioii that will go out beyond the present and the visible. Are you
content to be tormented and mocked by these dreamings, half visions,
spectral revelations, and tempting fancies ? Why not take them all up
to the Son of God, and say, " We have dreamed this ! We cannot make
anything of its harmonies, — nothing truly beautiful. Yet Ave think it
ought to be made into something beautiful, because look what glittering
pieces there are here — what wondrous shapes, what marvellous adapta-
tions we think there are to be found amongst these pieces." If you go
up to Him so, He, more readily than ever Joseph or Daniel did, will show
you the interpretation of the dream, and will bless you with revelations
of what is in yourself as well as what is in God.

My dear friend, you can't get on without the interpreter of dreams,

, without the man of thought, without the inspired teacher, without the
profound interpreter of God. I know very well that when you get among
your books and your dust of various kinds, that you are apt to think
you can do very well without ideas, inuaginings, and dreams, and mere
thinking. But there are times in your life when you begin to feel that
without thought, idea, impulse, emotion, life would be but a mockery,

' and death itself would be the welcomest guest that ever crossed your
threshold. Ho ! every one that desires to know the highest thought, and
the highest feeling in the universe, this can be found only in the book of
God and in communion with the Holy Ghost.

•' But think on me when it sliall be well with thee, and shew kindness, I pray thee, uuto
me, and make mention of me unto I'haroah, and bring me out of this house." — 14.

The first bit of humanity we have seen in Joseph : human nature is
in this little plea. He would have been far too great a man for me if I

> had not seen this little touch of human nature coming out after all.
I have wondered, as I have read along here, that he did not protest and
resent, and vindicate himself, and otherwise come out as an injured man.
He has been almost superhuman up to this point. Now the poor lad
says, " The chain is very heavy, this yoke makes me chafe. I cannot bear
this any longer." And he tells the butler, who has good luck before him,
that he would like to be taken out of the dungeon. There are times
when we want to find a god ev-en in the butler ; times when our

' theism is too great for us, and we want to get hold of a man,- — when oin-
religion seems to us to be too aerial, afar oft", and we would be glad to
take hold of any staff that anybody could put into our poor trembling
hands. This is natural, and I am not about to denounce Joseph, to
reproach him, as though he had done some unnatural and unreasonable
thing. I am glad of this revelation of his nature ; it brings me near to
him. Though God will not substitute himself by a butler, and will give
him two more years' imprisonment, yet God Avill make it up to him
somehow. He shall not want consolation. It was very human to seek

\ to make a half god of the butler to get out of that galling bondage.
We shall see, in the course of our reading, whether God be not mightier
than all creatures, and cannot open a way to kingdoms and royalties, when
we ourselves are striving only for some little, insignificant, and un-
worthy blessing.

Joseph

h in Prison 127

Alter this the baker told liis dream. He was a long-headed man.
He waited to hear how the case would go with the butler, and when he
heard all that the butler could know about his vision, he went
and told his dream, and Joseph told him, " Within three days thou
shalt be hanged." The interpreter of dreams must not always tell good
news. The interpreter must not tell people's fortunes according to his
own ideas. He must do as Joseph did. He must say, " Interpreta-
tions are with God. I am but the medium on which the Infinite Silence
breaks into sound, into language. It is not in me to tell the meaning
of the mystery. It is in God, and with God alone." This is a lesson
for preachers of the gospel. It would be a joyous thing for me to say
to every^man in this house to-day, "You are right ; you are on the road
to glory ; nothing can stand between you and heaven." That would be
a very gracious thing to say. But if I fail to warn the ungodly man, to
tell him that God is angry with the wicked every day, and yet God has
no pleasure in the death of the wicked, — that the Son of God has died
for the sins of the world, — that there is no man too vile to be received
and to be redeemed by the Great Sacrifice, — then shall I fail in my
mission, and my word of joy for a moment shall be a mockery and a
cruel thing, and your pale and reproachful countenance on the last day
turned upon me would be an everlasting punishment. No, we must be
faithful. There are interpretations that are favourable and helpful ;
there are interpretations that mean ruin, punishment, death.

May God make his servants fiiithful, that they may speak the cheer-
ing, the life-cheering word ; and that they may speak the terrible word
with self-restraint and with heart-breaking pathos, that men may begin
to feel that there is something in the message that ought to make the
heart quake and turn their minds to devout consideration. I wanted
to have gone further with this to-day, but our rule never to exceed one
hour in the service compels me to break off abruptly. I cannot, however,
sit down till I have said again, That to every man's dream, and thinking
and scheming about life there is an answer in One alone, and that One is
Jesus Christ, son of Mary, Son of God, God the Son, Emmanuel, God with
us ! He never refuses to have long, long talk, either by night or day,
with the man who goes to Him tremblingl}-, de\'outly, penitently. Try
if this be not so.

128 The City Temple

Almighty God, Thou trainest thy children, through manifold afflictions,
that they may come into large estate of fatherly blessing. Thou dost
pour them from vessel to vessel, that they may be as wine that is purified.
Thou dost stir up their nest that they may fly towards Thyself Thou break-
est their little strength that they may hide themselves under the wings of
Thy great power. We fret under Thy discipline and provoke Thee by
the murmurings of our impatience and ignorance. We know not Thy
way, nor consider the depth of Thy wisdom. We persist in measuring
Thee by our own power ; and lo ! we fail, and our hearts are sore
distressed and tormented, because of our want of wisdom and our lack of
trust. Help us to find in Thy fatherhood a constant rest. May we
view all the events of our life from the elevation of Thy throne. May
we know Thee to be the Lord and acknowledge Thy wisdom and love
and power. We are unable to follow the mystery of Thy way. We
bless Thee for the revelation of Thy fatherhood given unto us by Jesus
Christ Thy Son. He dwelt in Thy bosom. He alone could reveal
Thee. We have heard from Him that Thou art love ; that Thou earnest
the world in Thine heart, and that His Cross is the expression of Thy
infinite mercy. We desire to know Christ more perfectly that we may
better know Thee. In His image we would see somewhat of the glory
of Thy presence. In His words we would hear the tones of Thine own
voice. In His love we would see with what depth of affection Thou hast
loved the world. Pardon our sin, for it is great. We say this in the
presence of the redeeming Cross, because the blood of Jesus Christ
Thy son cleanseth from all sin. Hear the confession of our sins and the
cry of our penitence, and answer us with all the peace and joy of pardon
when we say with our heart, as with our tongue, God be merciful unto
us sinners ! Amen.

The City Teinple.

REPORT OF A DISCOURSE DELIVERED BY

JOSEPH PARKER,

In Poultry Chapel ^ on Thursday Mornings March 12 i 1871,

(the sf.ventv-second noonday service.]

PHARAOH'S DREAM.

" And it came to pass at the end of two full years, that Pharaoh dreamed : and, behold,
he stood by the river." — Genesis, xli., i.

HOWING how soon men are led into mystery, how thin,
how flimsy is the veil which separates dust and visibility
and ordinary things, from the spiritual, the invisible, and,
in some senses, the terrible. There is mystery all around us,
and ever and anon God gives us a peep into that mystery, that He may
tame our impetuosity and call us to considerateness and devoutness.
Pharaoh was a mighty man in his day, and yet a dream was too much
for his power of interpretation. He had a dream, and it mqckcd hiniv
N

ijo The City. Temple

He saw strange visions, and they said nothing to him which he could
render into intehigible speech. Understand that just before us there is
a power of mystery and concealment, a mockery and torment which can
unsettle the strongest man amongst us, — frighten us, and make poor,
timorous, trembling creatures of the very sturdiest man amongst us.
This shows also the weakness of the greatest men. Pharaoh was king,
but kings are not always interpreters. It would not do for one man to
be every man. Men would forget themselves if they had at their
girdles the keys of all locks. It is enough for some of us to dream, and
to be puzzled by our dreams and visions. It would be too much for us
if we were our own soothsayers, prognosticators, interpreters, and
reconcilers. Every man needs the help of some other man.

Pharaoh is mighty, yet Pharaoh is puzzled by his own dreams. The
prime minister for the time being is an influential man, but he might
not be able to clean his own watch. The great general and warrior of
the day has a renown peculiarly his own, but it might be inconvenient
for him to get his own coals in. There is a meaning in these things. A
man, though he be a king, wants an interpreter now and then to break
into common speech the strange and terrible language Avhich he has heard
in the silence of the night time. So tlie greatest, proudest man amongst
us has, ever and anon, to call in the aid of some apparently little, con-
temptible creature who has nothing but hands, or nothing but physical
faculties. Let us learn from this our mutual interdependence, the divine
idea of unionism and reciprocity. We need one another. There is no
man here, no man in tlie world, how brilliant soever his genius, how
mighty soever his gifts, who does not need the humblest and the poorest
creature to make up to him someUiing that is wanting to complete the
complement and sphere of his power.

"And it came to pass in the morning tiiat his spirit was troubled." — 8.

Showing us the discipline, the instructiveness, which may come out
of the Unknown. If life were altogether a known quantity, we should
forget ourselves. God recalls us, steadies us, gives us thoughtfulness,
considerateness, by reminding us, now and again, that the greatest part
of our being is an unknown quantity. Pharaoh was troubled. Why?
Because some little rival had lifted his puny fist against his throne ? He
could have crushed such rivalry almost by a word. Why was the king
of Egypt troubled ? Because of an unknouni factor ; because of the
elements he could not see all round about ; because of something that
glanced at him and then shut its eyes again swiftly ; something that
touched him on the shoulder and fled away. It is the same with us.
God rules us often by the fear of the unknown. You saw a flash of
light in your bedroom last night, after you had retired to rest, and that
troubled you, shook you ; you have to enquire of others in the morning
to know what it was. Great man ! poor insect ! You thought you
heard a voice, and yet there was nobody to be seen, and that chilled
your marrow, — you drop your pen and run out into the busy streets,
that you may retone your nerves. Ha ! so it was with you. You could
uot rest because there was an unexpected glance of light in your rooiii.

Tharaolis "Dream 13'

You thought somebody touched you, and when you looked behind
there was no one to be seen. You had a dream which shook your
whole nervous system, agitated, disturbed you, made you unquiet and
sad. Why, be a man ! What was it? A shadow, an impalpability, a
dream ! You are a man, with your head upon your shoulders, your eyes
in your head, with hands and feet, and completeness of pliysical consti-
tution. Why should you be startled, chilled, afraid, by something that
is mysterious, intangible, invisible ? Be a man. But you can't. There
is God's power over you. He can frighten you by a dream ; He can
startle you, confound you, by an unexpected event or combination of
events.

This is my difficulty with some men. They can't rest till they have
done their very utmost to find out the meaning of a dream. They are
disquieted until they find out whence came an unexpected shadow,
whence issued an unexpected voice. They enquire ; they give them-
selves no rest, until they have answered such difficulties with as much
measure of satisfaction as possible. Yet they care nothing for the
subtle temptations that assail the heart, for allurements that seduce the
spirit into evil, for the unholy thoughts that steal upon their minds and
poison the fountain of their highest life. They care nothing for all the
Great Unknown, the entrance to which is called " Death." Is this
right ? Is this reasonable ? To be terrified by a vision of the night,
and yet to have no care about the infinite, the invisible, the everlasting !
Has God no meaning in the little frights with which he sometimes visits
us ? When he just touches us, as it were, with the finger-tip of mystery, —
when he just seizes us for one moment by some sudden fear? Is it not
a hint of the unsearchable riches of his mystery and the inexpressible
fulness of his resources, whereby he can torment, trouble, slay men ?
You who need this exhortation, if such there be here, will have but a
sorry answer to give to the last great trouble, the one all-inclusive
over-shadowing fear ; because by the number of times you have
trembled in the presence of unexpected events, by the experience you
have had of disquieting dreams, God will charge upon you the capacity
of understanding the hints and the monitions which he has given in all
the cloud and mystery and Avonder of your life.

" And he sent and called for all the magicians of Egypt, and all the wise men thereof,
and Pharaoh told them his dream: but there was none that could interpet tiiem unto
Pharaoh."— 8.

Showing how old schools of thought go out ; how old tuitional func-
tions are exhausted ; how men who have served their day, after a clumsy
and incomplete fashion, are dispossessed, put aside; and with such natural-
ness and beauty of adaptation of means to ends. God does not say to the
magicians, soothsayers, and monthly prognosticators, " Now, your day
is done, and you must retire from the field." He simply gives Pharaoh,
king of Egypt, a dream to which they have no answer. Thus the old
school drops out, and a new era of thinking, teaching, and interpreta-
tion is inaugurated. A man must not keep up old schoolisms, when
those isms are no longer the answers to the dreaming day — the strange,

132 The City Temple

novel, tormenting life pf the current time. The answers of the men
referred to in this verse might have been quite enough in other cases.
Up to a given point they -might have been wise teachers. They had
satisfied the Pharaohs of Egypt from time to time. Yet God lets down
a dream from heaven, before which these men retire, saying themselves,
" We have no answer to it." This is how God trains the world. Old
answers will not do always to new dreams. Old forms will not always
do for new truths, or new aspects of truth, or new inspirations of divine
wisdom. Herein ought we to learn magnanimity, charity, noble-
mindedness. I have a dream. Can any man tell me what it is. I
have a sorrow at my heart. Can any man tell me where there is balm
for such wound ? My sin torments me, reproaches me, makes demands
upon me which I cannot answer. Is there balm in (iilead ? Is there a
physician there ? There are times when we would give half our kingdom
for a man. A man of the right force of thought, the right capacity of
sympathy, the right tone of music — that wondrous, subtle, penetrating
tone which finds the ear of the soul and charms the spirit into rest and
hope ! There are plenty of vicu ; but is there a man '! Countless
populations ; but is there a seer, a man who holds upon his girdle the
one key that can unlock the wards of my difficulties and can open the
lock of my life ? Now there is a man who professes to answer all ques-
tions, solve all problems, dissipate all dreams, and give us a new start in
life. You may have heard his name ; you may have * heard it so often
that it has ceased to be a name, and has become a mere sound — a
wavelet on the yielding air. It is a sweet name, and yet it is possible
for men to have heard it until they cease to hear it. The name is this :
Jesus Christ. Have you heard it before ? A thousand times ! Yet
there is not a name in the newspapers of to-day which excites you less
than that name. Such may be the experience of some of you. It is a
terrible thing to have outlived Christ ; to have made Bethlehem
Gethsemane, Golgotha — historic names, spectral shadows ! Yet I
preach to-day this : — No man's dream can be solved but by Christ ;
no man's greatest dreams, divinest dreams, visions of himself and of
the fnture, can be solved and interpreted but by the son of Mary,
Son of God !

" Then spake the chief butler ■ unto Pharaoh, saying, I do remember my faults this
day."— 9.

Not his fault in respect of having forgotten Joseph, but his fault in
the matter for which he was sent to prison in company with the chief
baker. He makes a graceful speech concerning his ill-behaviour, and
thus introduces to the notice of Pharaoh Joseph, the Hebrew servant to
the captain of the guard. The speech of the butler is a a speech to which
every man ought to give solemn heed : " I do remember my faults this
day." Here is the law of association. One thing suggests another,
showing how concatenated and intervoh^ed are all the aftairs of this life.
"I do remember my faults this day." There are days that go back
into our yesterdays and make them live again. There are little cir-
cumstances that sound as it were the trump of resurrection over all our

Pharao)is Dream 133

past life, and summon buried things into personality and impressiveness
of position and aspect. So it shall be with us all. There will come
to us events which will give recollection which shall recall the whole
chain of our life. There is a way of wrapping things up. Let us clearly
understand that, lest any evil-minded man should be discouraged, lest
any man who has an evil genius should be thrown into despair. Let us
remind him that there is a way of doing bad things, wrapping them up
\\\i\\ skilful fingers, and putting them away. That can be done. You
can easily scratch away a little mould and hide some fault from the light,
or some unholy word or mischievous deed, and throw the mould over it
again, and then take your staff in hand and walk on. Do not think that
your occupation, you bad Othello, is gone ! The worst of it is, that some
men think that wrapping up a sin is equal to annihilation. They do a bad
deed, throw it behind them, look straight on, as if their looking straight on
had actually destroyed the deed. We shall come upon events that shall
be reminders, upon circumstances that shall turn us round to face the
past with all its variegations, its brightness and its shadows, its purities
and its corruptions. AVhat an outlook this is for some of us ! There
are parts of our life we do not like to think about. When we are sud-
denly reminded of them we call, Wine ! We turn aside a little to some
one and say. Play something. There is a time when wine and music
shall have lost their power of enchantment, and we shall be turned right
round — forced to look at the past ! Oh, sirs ! it is then that we shall have
no little quibbling, wretched questions to put about Christ's Cross and
Chist's atonement. When we see life from that point, and feel the bitter-
ness and torment of sin, we shall then know that the Lamb of God never
shed one drop too much of his blood, never suffered one pang too many
for the sins of the world. AVe shall not be critics then, pedants then,
little technical enquirers then. We shall feel that the Cross, and that
alone, can go right into our life, with the answer to our difficulties,
and the balm for our wound and sorrow.

" Then Pharaoh sent and called Joseph, and they brought him hastily out of the dun-
geon : and he shaved himself, and changed his raiment, and came in unto Pharaoh." — 14.

There are great changes in life. Some of our lives amount to a
succession of rapid changes ; and it takes a man of some moral nerve
and stamina to stand the violent alternations of fortune. Some men
cannot bear promotion. It is dangerous to send little boats far out into
the sea. Some men are clever, sharp, natty, precise, wonderfully well
informed, newspaper fed and fattened, and yet, if you were to increase
their wages just a pound a week, they would lose their heads. That is
a most marvellous thing, and yet nobody ever thought he would lose his
head with such an increase of fortune. But it is a simple fact, that some
men could not bear to step out of a dungeon into a palace : it would
kill them, ^^'hat helps a man to bear these changes of fortune, whether
they be down or up? God, — He can give a man gracefulness of
mien when he has to walk down, and God can give him enhanced
princely dignity when he has to walk up ; a right moral condition, a

134 ■" The City Temple

right state of heart, the power of putting a proper valuation upon
prisons and palaces, gold and dross. Nothing, but such moral rectitude
can give a man security amidst all the changes of fortune or position in
life. His information will not do it ; his genius will not do it. Nothing
will do it but a divine state of heart. It is beautiful ro talk to a
man, who has such a state of heart, when great changes and wonderful
surprises come upon him, — when Pharaohs send for him in haste. It is
always a good and stimulating thing to talk to a great man, a great
nature, a man that has some completeness about him. It must be
always a very ticklish, delicate, and unpleasant thing to talk to snobs
and shams and well-tailored mushrooms ; but a noble thing to talk to a
noble man, who knows what prison life is, who knows what hardness of
' life is, and that has some notion of how to behave himself even when
the greatest personages require his attendance. Few men could have
borne this change. None of us can bear the great changes of life with
calmness, fortitude, dignity, except we be rightly established in things
that are divine and everlasting. You Avill see that I can't make too
much of Joseph's princeliness of heart and mind when 1 read the
J 6th verse : —

•' And Joseph answered Pharaoh, saying, It is not m me: God shall give Pharaoh an
answer of peace,"

A reply that would give him foundation and solidity in the presence of
any man. He who draws upon the well-head never has an empty
vessel. He who knows himself to be the steward, instrument, medium
of God, never has to retract his prophecies or to qualify his teaching.
There is a lesson here for those of us who preach. ^Vhen men ask us

I i to tell the meaning of their life, the answer is not in us, it is in God.
When men come to us with great problems, anxious questions, we are
not called to put them down and to snub them, as if they had tres-
]Dassed into forbidden provinces. Our answer is to Pharaoh or Cfesar,
I.': J poor nian or the lone lost child, — the answer is not in me, the
answer is in God. He who rests thus upon God will have new ser-
mons, if he have to preach every hour of the day. He will speak light ;
his words will be as the omnific fiat of God, " Let there be light," and

J, man" shall stand in a great blaze. Believe me, God has all answers.
We have the lock, he has the key. We have the dream, he has the in-
terpretation. What fools, therefore, some of us must be, going about
from man to man, saying, " Can you tell me anything about this ? "
when God waits to be gracious and bids us welcome to the un-
searchable riches of his own wisdom and grace. " If any man lack

■'' wisdom let him ask of God, who giveth to all men liberally, and
upbraideth not."

" And Joseph said unto Pharaoh, The dream of Pharaoh is one: God hath showed
Pharaoh what he is about to do." — 25.

God does sometimes give hints of his method among men. Not
always are they complete hints ; simply indications, outlines, shadows

Pharaoh's Dream ijj

of things. The secret of the Lord is with them that fear him. But if '
we would fully entertain in our heart of hearts the Holy Ghost, I know
not that we should not have more mastery over the future, keener in-
sight into men, events, and purposes. Sure am I of this : — That no
man loses anything in clearness of vision, microscopic penetrating
insight into character, into history, into events, by living in God and '
.serving God. What God is about to do I Now and then God comes
down just to say, " You men are only tenants at will ; you are not pro-
prietors, you are not even leaseholders. Boast not yourselves of to- '
morrow ! " '\^''e should get to think that the wheatfields and the vine-
yards were all ours, if the Great Proprietor did not come down now and
then and breathe upon them that they should wither away, — if he did
now and then withhold the dew, so that the roots of the earth cannot
be nourished, — if, now and again, he did not send a plague through the
air to jjroclaim to men that they hold things but for a moment, and ought
to hold them in the spirit of stewardship. So Pharaoh, having had a
dream from God, and interpretation from God through the medium of
Joseph, was sharp enough to say, " Then if this be the case you are
the man for chancellor." Christian people are thought to be very soft-
headed people, not thought to have many business notions and business '
qualifications ; great at singing hymns and going to church, but not
much in the market-place or on the exchange. I will not reply to that
further than to say that it is unworthy of a reply. As if God did not
know more about money than we do, — and more about wheat-growing
and wheat-storing than we do ! as if God knew everything but how to '
get the morsel of bread for the meal that is due !

My dear young fellow-students of this wonderful history, believe I
ten thousand men when they say that they never knew what it was to ■
have a clear mind, a far-sighted vision, until they knew God, knew Jesus
Christ, not as their Creator only but their Redeemer, their Sanctifier.
Religion does not make business men, nor does it give man capacity,
facult}'. Religion will increase his capacity and refine his faculty.
Religion — understanding by that term the religion of Jesus Christ, Son *
of God, who lived for us, died for us, and rose again for us — never
diminishes the quantity of our manhood ; but increases it, refines it, and
gives it unity, dignity, and effect.

So we have seen Joseph through what we may tenn the i\U
fortunes. When we come to read about him again, we shall have
to turn over a new leaf, on which there seems to be nothing
but brightness. Let us, before turning over that new leaf, remind
ourselves that there are trials which are testing and other trials
that are punitive. Many men are distressing themselves, when they
think of their trials, by imagining that they must have done something
wrong, or God never could have sent such afflictions to them personally
or to their household. That is a mistake. There are trials that are >
simply tests, not punishments ; trials of faith and patience ; not rods sent
to scourge men because they have been doing some particular evil
thing. God's people are tried. " Whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth."
The honour is not in the trial, it is in the spirit in which the trial is borne.

136 The City Temple

Take the trial impatiently, with murmuring against God, and we shall
be the worse for our trial, the poorer for our suffering. Take the trial
as a veiled angel sent by our Father to say things to us which no other
messenger could so suitably convey, then even the rod shall be precious
to us, and the herald's utterances of God shall have music in them that
shall comfort and revive and cheer the heart.

We all have our trials. Piiaraoh and Pharaoh's butler and baker,
king and subject, preacher and hearer, — every heart has its own bitter-
ness, its own prison hours, its own times of darkness and sorrow and
agony. But there is one healing for us all. Jesus knows, knows our
frame, remembers that we are but dust, knows what temptation is in its
suddeness, its rapidity, its urgency, its ravenousness. He has promised
to be with us when the lion comes and the bear, and the fierce beast,
and when the serpent tempts us, and our poor worn heart is foiling for
strength. To Christ, Son of the living God, Saviour of all men, let us
crawl, if we cannot fly ; and the mere turning of our tear-stained eyes
towards the place of his dwelling shall be accepted as if we had spread
out the strongest wings and outstripped the eagle in our flight towards
his presence ! Oh, dear Son of God ! hold Thou us up, and we shall
be safe ! Hear the people when they say. Amen I

The City Temple.

REPORT OF A DISCOURSE DELIVERED BY

JOSEPH PARKER,

In Poultry Chapel^ on Thursday Mornings March 30, 1871.
(the seventy-third noonday service.)

JOSEPH'S ELEVATION.

" And Joseph was thirty years old when he stood before Pharaoh, king of Egypt." —
Genesis, xli., 46.

OSEPH was about seventeen years of age when he went out, at
his father's request, to make enquiry concerning the well-
being of his brethren. We find from the text before us that
^^ he was now thirty years old. Think of twenty years being
required for the fulfilment of a dream ! The Lord counteth not time as
men count it. He sitteth upon the circle of eternity. He seems to be
always at leisure : though doing everything, to be doing nothing. A
thousand years in his sight are but as yesterday, and all time is but a
watch in the night. But what about the effect of this long suspense
upon the mind of the dreamer himself ? It is hardly any comfort to us
to know that God can afford to wait centuries and millenniums for the
fulfilment of His purposes. There is another, there is a weaker side to
this great question of the dreamer. Here is a young man exiled from
O

13^ The City Temple

his father's presence and the comforts of his home ; labouring under
the vilest imputations and the gravest suspicions ; wasting, as it appears
to us, thirteen prime years of his life. What about this waiting on the
part of God, so far as Joseph is concerned ? See, for example, how
likely it was to discourage his faith in things spiritual. The youth had
a dream, a vision, granted him as he believed of God ; and yet through
thirteen years his dream takes no shape, his vision is but a spectre of
the memory — not a grand ruling fact of the life. Mark how his faith
comes down accordingly. He reasons thus with himself ; " Up to this
time I have had faith in the God of my fathers. I have believed that
dream and vision, strange token and wonderful signal, all meant some-
thing in the divine providence and government of the world. I thought
my own dream had a great meaning in it : but I waited twelve months
and nothing came of the dream ; and twelve months more, and my
vision was as nothing ; and another year, and I have suffered nothing
but ill treatment, — and all this ill treatment has come to me through
. this very dream of mine. Verily, it was but a vexatious nightmare ; or,,
if a vision of God, it was sent to mock my ambition and to destroy my
peace."

If the young man had run off into some such soliloquy as that,
he would be a very mighty man who could justly rebuke him for taking
that view of the affairs which constituted so large a portion of his life.
It is so with ourselves, my brethren. There are many things which
conspire to destroy our faith in the invisible, the spiritual, the eternal.
There are daily occurrences which teach us that there is something
higher than matter ; yet there are things occurring around us which are
perpetually rebuking our trust in the distant, the intangible, the spiri-
tual, the divine. And who are we, that we should speak to men who
for thirteen years have been groaning under heavy burdens, and chide
them, as if all the while they ought to have been musical, bright with
divine hope and beauty, and not sad and heavy-hearted, mournful and
pathetic in tone ? We should look at such things seriously, with con-
sideration. It is a terrible thing for some men to believe in God ! It
takes the whole stress of their nature, and all the help which can come
of their personal history and their family traditions, to bind them to the
belief that, after all, though God is taking a long time to fulfil their
dream, yet He is working it out, and in His own good hour he will
show that not a moment has been lost, that all the dozen years or more
have been shaped into a peculiar and bright benediction.

Then look at the inferential rectitude of his brethren, Joseph
might have turned in upon himself in some such way as this : " That
though my brethren dealt very harshly with me, yet they had keener
and truer insight into this business than I had. They saw that I was
the victim of a piece of foolish fanaticism. I thoiight I was interpreting
to them a dream of Heaven, a vision of God. When I told my dream
they mocked me, they visited me with what appeared to be evil treat-
ment. But now that I liave had thirteen years of disappointment,
vexatious delay, and all the consequent embitterment of spirit, my
brethren were right after all. They might not have taken, perhaps, the
very best method of showing that they were right ; yet now I forgive

Joseph's Elevation 139

them, because they were right on the main issue, and they were called
of God to chide my fanaticism, my imbecility, and folly." Well, there
is a good deal of sound sense in that monologue. It does appear as if
the brethren were right and Joseph was wrong. The brethren can turn
to thirteen years' confirmation of their view of Joseph's dream. They
could say : " Where are his dreams now ? . He had a vision of great-
ness. All the sheaves in the field were to bow down to his sheaf, and
all the stars were to make obeisance to him as the central sun. Where
are his dreams now ? " It is even so with ourselves. There are views
of life which I get which impress upon me this conclusion : — Bad men
are right after all. There are what are called '' facts " which go dead
against the good man's faith and the holy man's prayer. There are
men to-day who can tell you that they have prayed and struggled and
fought and endured, and for twelve years nothing has come of their
holy patient waiting upon God, — nothing that is worthy of being set
against the stress under which they have suffered, the discipline that
has pained them, the misunderstandings which have troubled and tor-
mented their lives. There have, indeed, been little flecks of light upon
their daily course ; there have been little compliments and social cour-
tesies ; but, putting all these things together, they are not worthy to be
named in comparison with the poignant anguish that their souls have
endured. Yet will not history be to us a tone without language, a
messenger without a message, a wasted thing, if we do not learn from
this incident that if we have waited twelve years, yet in the thirteenth
God may open the windows of heaven and pour out upon us a blessing
that there shall not be room to contain ? It is not easy to wait.
It does not suit our incomplete nature to tarry so long. But we fall
back upon history, which is God interpreted, and we find in that an
assurance that Avhen the heart is right, the outward circumstances
shall be shaped and directed to our highest advantage.

Some men's dreams do take a long time to fulfil. The butler and
the baker's dreams were fulfilled in three days. But what was there in
their dreams ? Everything depends upon the vision we have had of
God. If we have had a butler's dream we shall have a butler's answer.
If we have had such a dream as a great nature only can dream, then
God must have time to work out his purposes. Joseph is not the only
man who has suffered for his dreams. God oftentimes punishes us by
making dreamers of us. Some men would be thankful to-day if they
could lose nine-tenths of their sensibility, — if they could become
leathern or wooden to a large extent. This power of feeling, of
feeling everything to be divine and to have a divine meaning in it, this
power of seeing beyond the visible right into the unseen, this power
of dreaming and forecasting the future, brings with it severe pains and
terrible penalties. Here is a man who dreams of the amelioration of
his race. He will write a book, he will found an institution, he will
start certain courses of thinking, he will seek to reverse the thought of
his contemporaries and turn it all into a directly opposite channel. He
sees the result of all this. He tells his dream, and men laugh at him.
They say, " It is just like him, you know. He is a very good sort of
man, but there is a good deal of fanaticism in him. He has always got

140 The City Temple

some new scheme, and some very beautiful vision floating before him."
And men who never dreamed — except it was that their wretched little
house was being broken into — feel called upon to snub him Avith their
contempt, and to avoid him as a man who is too good or too clever for
this poor common world. What are we to make of history if we do not
get out of it this lesson : — That there are dreams which God gives, and
there are dreams which take a long time to fulfil. We don't make the
history — we interpret it. God causes the facts to trauspire, and He
says to us, " Be wise, be understanding : draw the right inferences from
these circumstances." But was it worth waiting thirteen years for ? A
good deal will depend upon the answer we give to that enquiry. Is
there nothing worth waiting thirteen years for ? Some men require
twenty-five years hard, good schooling before they are quite as they
ought to be. Other men may require only two days, and they are as
sharp and clear as any scholar need be. Others require thirteen years
on the treadmill, thirteen years discipline and scourging, thirteen years
weaning from old affections and old associations. Observe, God was
now training a spoiled child, and spoiled children cannot be drilled and
put right in two hours. Some of us have been spoiled in various ways.
Some with excess of goodness, and some with excess of harshness it may
be, — yet spoiled. Our nature has got a twist, or we have got ideas
which require to be taken out of us ; and only chastisement, suspicion,
imprisonment, scourging, loss, hunger, affliction, and the very gate of
death itself, can bring us to that measure of solidity and tenderness and
refinement which God wants, in order to start us on the highest course
of our manly service. Was it worth waiting thirteen years for ? Yes.
All countries, according to the biblical statement, came to Joseph for
food, and all countries came into Egypt to Joseph to buy corn, because
that the famine was sore in all lands. He was the feeder of the nations,
the father, the preserver, the benefactor of innumerable multitudes ! It
seems to us to be an easy thing to step into that position. But we do
not see the whole case, we do not see the temptations which beset it,
the difilculties which combine to form that position ; we do not know
all the collateral bearings and issues. Let God be judge. He took
thirteen years to make tliis man, and this man was the benefactor and,
under God, the saviour of nations. Why should not we endeavour to
learn that lesson ? We should like now to be second to Pharaoh. Some
of us have the notion that we are tolerably ready, to-day, to receive all
the homage which people can give us. It is our mistake. If we wait
thirteen years, we shall be better, we shall be stronger and wiser, than
we are now. The years are not wasted to souls that make a right use
of them. Every year that goes by should lift a man up, give him en-
largement of capacity, and tenderer sympathy, and sensitiveness of
feeling. So Joseph waited thirteen years. But after he waited, he
went before Pharaoh, and was as Pharaoh to the people of Egypt.

" Now when Jacob saw that there was corn in Egypt, Jacob said unto his sons, Why
do ye look one upon another.-^ " — xlii., i.

The old man was perfectly innocent : he had no evil tormenting

JosepHs Elevation 141

associations with the word " Egypt." If his sons had heard there was
corn many a mile further off than Egypt, surely these stalwart, active,
energetic men would have been off before the old man chided them by
this speech of his about waiting and looking upon one another. But
corn in Egypt ! Some words are histories. Some words are sharper
than drawn swords. Egypt was a keen double-edged weapon that went
right into the very hearts of the men whom Jacob sought to stimulate.
Jacob saw only the outward attitude. The sons appeared to be at their
wits' end. Jacob thought his children were inactive — had no spring or
energy in them ; that they had faded away into ordinary people, instead
of being the active, strong-limbed, energetic, and, as he thought, high-
minded men of old. Men do not show all their life. Men have a
secret existence, and their outward attitude is often but a deception.
I have seen this same principle in operation in many stations of life. I
have seen it in the church. I have known men, whose interest in the
sanctuary has begun to decline, who have been inattentive to the
ministry, who have fallen off in their support of christian institutions,
and when asked by the unsuspecting Jacobs, " Why is this ?" they have
said, " That they didn't care so much for the minister as they used to
do. There is not food for the soul ; they want another kind ot thing ;
and therefore, until some change has taken place, they must withhold
support from this and from that." So the minister has had to suffer, to
suffer from unkind words, from chilling looks, from attitudes which could
not be reported or printed, but which were bad to bear. And the poor
minister has endeavoured in his study to work harder, and to get up the
kind of food which such souls — souls ! — could digest. He has toiled
away, and in six months it has turned out that the wretch who criticised
him and made him a scapegoat, was preparing for bankruptcy, and was
edging his way out of the church, that he might do it with respectability
and without suspicion. Such a case is not uncommon. It may vary in
its outward aspects and the way ot putting it. But there are men that
seek to get out of duties and out of positions by all kinds of excuses,
who dare not open their heart of hearts and say, " The reason is in
myself I am a bad man. I have been caught in the devil's snare ; I
am the victim of his horrible temptation and cruelty." It is the same,
I am afraid, with many of you young men in the family circle. You
want to throw off restraint. You want to alter this arrangement and
that in the family, and you speak of your health, your friends, or some
change in your affections. You put altogether a false face and a bad
gloss upon the affair, so that your unsuspecting father and mother may
not know the reality, — the reality being that your heart is wrong or your
soul has poisoned itself You want to be away to do something that is
truly diabolic, and which you would not like those to see who gave you
birth and who have nourished you through life. Believe this, that not
until the moral is right can the social be frank, fearless, happy. When
men's hearts are right they will not have anything to hide. They may
have committed errors of judgment, but these are venial, trifling. But
where there is no deep villainy of the heart, men can bear to tell their
whole life, and show how it is that they are fearful concerning this or
despondent concerning something else.

142 The City Temple

This law of association is constantly operating amongst men. A
word will bring up the memories of a life-time. You had only to say to
ten great-boned men in the house of Jacob — and say it in a whisper —
Egypt ! and you would shake every man to the very centre and core of
his being. If you could have met the oldest, strongest, sturdiest of them
on a dark night and said to him, Egypt ! you would have struck him as

* with the lightning of God. Yes, it is a terrible thing to have done evil.
It comes up again upon you from ten thousand points. It lays hold of
you and holds you in humiliating captivity, and defies you to be happy.
That this may be so I think is tolerably clear from the twenty-first verse
of the forty-second chapter. The men were before Joseph, after they
had been cross-examined by him. — ■

" And they said one to another, We are verily guilty concerning our brother, in that we
saw tlie anguish of his soul, when he besought us, and we would not hear ; therefore, behold,
also his blood is required." — 21.

Twenty years after the event ! Their recollection of that event was
^ as clear as if it transpired but yesterday. Learn the moral impotence

• of time. We say this evil deed was done fifty years ago. Fifty years
may have some relation to the memory of the intellect, but it has no
relation to the tormenting memory of the conscience. There is a moral
memory. Conscience has a wondrously realizing power, — taking things
we have written in secret ink and holding them before the fire until e\ery
line becomes vivid, almost burning. Perhaps some of you know not yet
the practical meaning of this. We did something twenty years ago. We
say to ourselve.;, "Well, seeing that it was twenty years ago it is not
worth making anything to do about it, it is past, and it is a great pity to
go twenty years back raking up things." So it is in some respects, a
great pity, to bother ourselves about things other men did, twenty years
ago Trt v.'hat about our own recollection, our own conscience, our own
power of accusation ? A man says, "I forged that name twenty-five years
ago, and oh ! every piece of paper I get hold of seems to have the name
upon it. I never dip the pen, but there is something in the pen that
reminds me of what I did by candle light, in almost darkness, when I
had locked the door and assured myself nobody was there. Yet it comes
upon me so graphically, — my punishment is greater than I can bear 1"
Time cannot .-heal our iniquities. Forgetfulness is not the cure for sin.
Obliviousness is not the redeemer of the world. How then can I get
rid of the torment and the evils of an accusing memory ? The blood of
Jesus Christ cleanseth from all sin. " Let the wicked forsake his way
and the unrighteous man his thoughts, let him return unto the Lord and
he will have mercy upon him, and to our God, for he will abundantly
pardon." That is the kind of answer men want, when they feel all their
yesterdays conspiring to urge an indictment against them, as sinners
before the living God. " If we confess our sins he is faithful and just
to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." Can
I impress this upon myself and upon you ! Time cannot redeem us.
Ten thousand ages hence, a man's sin will confront him, scourge him, and
defy him to enjoy one moment's true rest. Who then can destroy sin,

« Joseph's Elevation 143

break its power ? Whose arms can get round it, lift it up and cast it
into the depths of the sea. This is a divine work, God's work ! It is
not to be done by your ethical quacks and your dreamy speculators.
It is to be done only by the mighty redeeming power of God the Son,
Jesus Christ ! This is the gospel I have to preach to man to-day. Fifty
years will make no difference in your crimes. Conscience makes us
live continually in the present ; and only the blood of Christ can wash
out the stains of evil deed and unholy memory.

" And Reuben answered them, saying, Spake I not unto you, saying, Do not sin against
the child ; and ye would not hear ? therefore, behold, also his blood is required."

Showing how bad men reproach one another, how little unity
there is in wickedness, what a very temporary thing is the supposed
unanimity of bad men, — how bad men will one day turn upon one
another, and say, " It was you !" Ha ! such is the unanimity of wicked
conspirators ! " My son, if sinners entice thee, consent thou not"; they
will turn against thee some day. Though your swords be pointed
against one man at the present hour, and you may be unanimous in
some wicked deed, — God's great wheel is going round and round, and
the hour cometh when the men who urged thee to do the evil deed and
share with them their unholy counsels, will seek thy heart, will accuse
thee, will charge thee with participation in their nefarious, hellish de-
signs and work. The way of transgressors is hard. Smooth for a mile
or two, and then hard, thorny — ravenous beasts there, serpents lurking
here. It is very difficult to get back when you once start upon that
way. ■ I have known young men who have said, " We want to
go just a mile or two down this road, and then, when we find it
becomes rather intricate, we intend to turn right round ; and then,
after all, you will see that we have only been sowing a few wild
oats, and just doing a few odd things, and by and by we shall settle
down into solid men." I am not so sure about it. If a man goes
into the evil way, and the great enemy of souls go after him, he
will blot out his footprints. So when the man says, " I will now go
back again, I can put my feet where I put them before," he looks for
his footprints, but they have gone, and he cannot tell which is east,
west, north, south ! Footprints gone, landmarks altered, the Avhole
metamorphosed, and to him downward is upward. None so blind as
he the eyes of whose soul have been put out.

All this, too, was in the hearing of Joseph. Joseph heard them say
that he was their brother. They used to call him "dreamer." He heard
them say the child, — tender. Once they mocked him. He heard them
speak in subdued tender tones. He remembers the time when theif
harsh grating voices sent a terror through his flesh and blood, and when
he was sold off to travelling merchantmen. It was worth waiting for to
see further into one another, after such experiences as these. He never
would have known his brethren, but for this terrible process. Some
disciplines open men's nature and show us just what they are. " His
blood is required," said Reuben. Certainly,- such requirements made

144 ^'^'^^ ^'^(y Temple

life worth having. There are pay days. There are days when bills
become due. There are times when business men are particularly busyj
because the day has come on which certain things are due and must be
attended to. And shall a paltry guinea be due to you or to me, and a
man's blood never be due ? Shall we be very conscientious about pounds,
shillings and pence, and forget the virtue we have despoiled, the honour
we have insulted, the love we have trampled underfoot? He will judge
us by our own actions, and will charge upon us that we were conscietious
in little things, in trivial relationships, and we forgot that sometimes
man's blood is due, and man's honour comes with a demand to be
satisfied.

I had intended pursuing the reading further, but time admonishes
me to conclude even thus abruptly. Yet I cannot withdraw from you
or release my hold upon the attention of any man who has eagerly
listened to me until I have said this : — There are requirements which
will be urged upon us, demands we must meet. " Wit],;^ what judgment
ye judge ye shall be judged, and what measure ye mete it shall be
measured to you again." " Be not deceived, God is not mocked ; what-
soever a man soweth, that shall he also reap." If we have cut off other
men's thumbs and gi-eat toes, our thumbs and great toes will be cut off
and thrown under the table, and we shall have to say, as was said by one
of old, " As I did unto others so hath it been requitted unto me." This
law was not confined to the house of Israel. It is God's law, an eternal,
unchanging ordinance. How can we meet, hoAV can we escape from,
the debts already due ? How am I to get back into my yesterdays and
satisfy the past ? Men when they are proposing methods of remedy
forget that we want the method that comes not only from the future
but from the past. How can I gather my whole life ? Only by going
up to the dear Christ's Cross, and finding in that more than the measure
of my sin, more than the measure of my life. As He was the Lamb slain
from before the world's foundation, and will for ever be the Lamb slain
in the midst of the throne, so He can touch my yesterdays and my to-
morrows, and give me rest, pardon, joy, in the perfectness of His
redeeming work.

The City Temple.

REPORT OF A DISCOURSE DELIVERED BY

JOSEPH PARKER,

In Poultry Chapel ^ on Thursday Morning, April 6, 1871.

(the seventy-fourth noonday service.)

JOSEPH'S BRETHREN UNDER TRIAL.

" And he turned himself about from them and wept." — Genesis, xHi., 24.

OSEPH had spoken roughly to his brethren whom he knew,
though they knew not him. He had declared unto them, by
the life of Pharaoh, that they should not go forth from his
presence except their youngest brother came with them.
Having heard Joseph's decision they began to reproach one another.
They said, " We are verily guilty concerning our brother, in that we
saw the anguish of his soul when he besought us, and we would not
hear ; therefore is this distress come upon us." And Reuben turned
the whole thing upon them in a very pointed reproach. He said,
" Spake I not unto you, saying, Do not sin against the child, and ye
would not hear ? Therefore, behold also his blood is required." Joseph

14-6 The City Temple

understood their speech, though they did not understand the speech of
Joseph, because he spake unto them through an interpreter. The in-
terview having come to this point, Joseph turned himself about from his
brethren and wept. Harsh experience need not destroy the finest
sensibiUty, the tenderest feeHngs of the heart. Here is a man who
has had twenty years very painful, almost unendurable, treatment;
and yet at the end of the period he is susceptible of the tenderest in-
I fluences, responds emotionally, with tears, with unutterable yearning and
tenderness of soul, in the presence of his brethren, and the mute appeal
which was involved in that presence. There is something for us to learn
here. Our harsh experiences often deaden our sensibility, work in us a
' sourness of heart and feeling which becomes misanthropic, selfish, resent-
ful. We learn from the history before us that it is possible to be exiled
from home, ill-treated by relatives and friends, thrown into the way of
pain, sorrow, loss and destruction ; yet to come out of the whole process
tender, sensitive, responsive to appeals which are made to our nature.
Why, there are some men who cannot overget the very slightest offence.
If they have not their own way in everything, they shew their resentful-
ness in a thousand little ways, — they become peevish, censorious,
distrustful, ungenial. You never meet them but they give you to
understand that they have been insulted, offended, dishonoured. They
have had to endure slight, or contempt, or neglect. How little, how
unutterably paltry, such men appear in the presence of the man who,
after twenty years of exile, solitude, evil treatment of all kinds, weeps
when he sees his brethren, — keeps his heart through it all, — has not
allowed himself to become soured or misanthropic ! He keeps a whole
tender responsive heart through all the tumult, and trial, and agony, and
bitter sorrow of thirteen years vile captivity, and seven years of exalta-
tion which might, by the very surprise it involved and the very sudden-
ness with which it came, have over-balanced the man's mind and given
him false views of himself If he was great, why should not we be great ?
If he could keep a whole heart through it all, why should we allow our
moral nature to be frittered and dribbled away ? Why should we become
less instead of greater, notwithstanding the evils we have to endure, and
the difiiculties which press upon us on every side ? A great question,
calling men to devout consideration, and to a searching and complete
review of their moral position.

After the lapse of twenty years, Joseph on seeing his breth-
ren wept. Why, he might have been vengeful. It is easy for us
glibly to read the words, " Joseph turned himself about and wept."
But consider what the words viight have been ! We oftentimes see
results, not processes. We do not see how men have had to bind
themselves down, crucify themselves — hands, feet, head, and side — and
undergo death in the presence of God, before they could look society in
the face with anything like benignity and gentleness and forgiveness.
What the words might have been ! Joseph, when he saw his brethren,
might have said, " Now I have you ! Once you put me in a pit, — I
shall shake you over hell ; once you sold me, — I will imprison you and
torture you day and night ; you smote me with whips, — I shall scourge
you with scorpions ! It shall be easier to go through a circle of fire

Joseplis Brethren under Triai 147

than to escape my just and indignant vengeance to-day ! " He might
have said, " I shall operate upon the law, A tooth for a tooth and an
eye for an eye." That is the law of nature ; that is elementary morality.
It is not vengeance, it is not resentment ; it is alphabetic justice — ^justice
at its lowest point — incipient righteousness. It is not two eyes for an
eye, two teeth for a tooth ; but an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, a
blow for a blow, a pit for a pit, selling for selling, and so on. A great
many men are perfectly content with elementary morality and alphabetic
justice. People don't educate themselves from this kind of righteous-
ness into Christian nobility of disposition. It is not a question of
education ; it is a question of sanctification. Few men can rise beyond
mere justice. Many men find in mere justice all the moral satisfaction
which their shallow natures require ; they cannot see that mercy is the
very highest point in justice, and that when a man stoops to forgive he
becomes a prince and a king and a crowned ruler in the house and
kingdom of God. It requires all that God can do to teach men this :
That there is something higher than the law of retaliation, that forgive- '
ness is better than resentment, and that to release men is oftentimes — if
done from moral consideration and not from moral neglect — the highest
form of Christian justice. But revenge is sweet ! I am afraid that some
of us like just a little revenge ; not that we would ourselves personally
and directly inflict it, but if our enemies could, somehow or another, be
tripped up, and tumble half way at least into a pit, we should not feel
that compunction and sorrow and distress of soul which, sentimentally,
appears to be so very fine and beautiful. Nothing but God the Holy
Ghost can train a man to this greatness of answering the memory of
injury with tears, and accepting processes in which men only appear to
have a part, as if God, after all, had been over-ruling and dnecting the
whole scheme.

" And Joseph turned himself about from them and wept." After-
wards he left their presence and went into his chamber and wept. Think
of the secret sorrows of men ! The tears did not flow in the presence of
the ten men. The tears were shed in secret. We do not know one
another altogether, because there is a private life. There are secret '
experiences. Some of us are two men. Joseph was two men. He spake
roughly unto his brethren. He put it on, he assumed roughness for
the occasion. But if you had seen him when he had got away into his
secret chamber, no woman ever shed hotter, bitterer tears than streamed
from that man's eyes. We do not know one another altogether. We
come to false conclusions about each other's character and disposition.
Many a time we say about men, " they are very harsh, rough, abrupt •"
not knoAving that they have other days when their very souls are dissolved
within them ; that they can suffer more in one hour than shallower
natures could endure in an eternity. Let us be hopeful about the very
worst of men. Some men cannot cry in public. Some men are
unfortunately afflicted with coarse, harsh voices, which get for them a
reputation for austerity, unkindliness, ungenialty. Other men are gifted
with fairness and openness of countenance, gentleness and tunefulness
of voice. When they curse and swear it seems as though they were half
praying, or just about to enter into some religious exercise. When they

148 The City Temple

speak, when they smile, they get a reputation for being very amiable
men. They don't know what amiability is. They have no secret life.
They weep for reputation ; they make their tears an investment for a
paltry renown. We don't want all our history to be known. We are
content for men to read a little of what they see on the outside, and that
they profoundly mistake oftentimes. But the secret history, the inner
room of life, what we are, and what we do when we are alone, no man
can ever tell, — the dearest, truest, tenderest friend can never understand.
Don't let us treat Joseph's tears lightly. Under this feeling there are
great moral principles and moral impulses. The man might have been
stem, vengeful, resentful. Instead of that, he is tender as a forgiving
sister. When he looks he yearns, when he listens to their voices all
the gladness and none of the bitterness of his old home comes back
again on his soul.

"And he said unto his brethren, My money is restored ; and, lo, it is even in my sack :
and their heart failed them, and they were afraid, saying one to another, What is this God hath
done unto us?" — 28.

•'And it came to pass as they emptied their sacks that, behold, every man's bundle of
money was in his sack : and when both they and their father saw the bundles of money, they
were afraid." — 35.

What mistaken views we take about what is called the common-
places of life ! Some of us are often discontent because of the insipidity
of our existence. To-day so like yesterday, and to-morrow will be but
a repetition of to-day. We are always wanting something to happen.
We say, If anything would but occur to-day to stir the stagnant pool of
our life ! We want to get out of old ruts and ordinary modes. Here
are men to whom something had happened, and they were afraid ! We
could not live sensationally. Men can bear shocks and sensations only
now and then. In life there must be great breadths of common-place
and ordinariness. We could not stand a shock every day. It is enough,
now and then, to be stimulated and shaken out of what is common and
usual, and what has come, by reason of its commonness, to be under-
valued and contemned.

They were afraid when they saw their money in their sacks. See
the possibility of mercies being turned into judgments, — of the very
goodness of God striking us in the heart, — of mercy itself smiting us as
with the rod of wrath. How can this be so ? When the moral nature
is wrong, when man's conscience tells him that he has no right to
this or that privilege or enjoyment, when man is divided against him-
self, when he has justly written bitterness against his own memory and
his own nature altogether, — then his very bread becomes bitter in
his mouth and the sunlight of God is a burning judgment upon his
life. Naturally, one would have said that when the men saw their
money in the sacks, saw that it had been planned, that it was not an
accidental thing, — being in one sack and not in another, but being in
every man's sack, — when they saw order, regularity, scheme in the
whole thing, — they might have said, " We are glad : we have been

Joseph's Brethren wider Trial 149

kindly and nobly treated by the men of Egypt ; we are thankful for
their consideration." Yet, when they saw the money they would not
have been more surprised if a scorpion had erected itself out of a sack
and aimed to strike them in the face. A time will come to bad men
when even God's mercies will trouble them, when the light of the day
will be a trouble to their eyes, and when the softest music will be more
unendurable than the most terrible thunder. Bad men have no right to |
mercies. Bad souls have no right to be in the pastures of God's rich-
ness of love and mercy and compassion. They feel themselves out of
place, or they will do so. Altogether, sirs, it is a bad look out for bad
men ! They cannot find rest anywhere. Put them in the very finest
pastures you can find, and there will arise one day in their hearts
this accusation : You have no right to be here ; your place is in the
sandy desert. Put them in the sandy desert, and the very wilder-
ness will be filled with discontent and unrest until the bad men
get out of it. Altogether the universe won't want them. God
will turn his back upon them ! There is no peace, saith my God,
to the wicked.

See, further, how small things can upset man's enjoyment, man's
pleasure and satisfaction in life. Here is a paltry handful of money in
each man's sack, and because of the event there is no rest in the house
of Israel that day. Life does not turn upon great events and sublime
circumstances. Life, after all, has in it great breadths of repetition.
One day is very much like another. It is upon little wheels that great
things turn. We undervalue little things. The young man does not
care to live to-day, because nothing great or sublime is occurring. He
does not know that his very life is hung upon a little thread ; that his
breath is in his nostrils ; that one element thrown into the air he breathes
will destroy his animal existence, and that life is such a delicately con-
structed affair that little things will increase our joy a millionfold, or will
utterly consume and destroy our pleasure. How, then, can I get mastery
over this life ? I don't want to be at the mercy of these little things that
occur every day. Is there no means by which I could have a sceptre ot
rulership and symbol of mastery ? Is there no way to the throne, seated
on which, I could be calm amid tumult, rich amid loss, hopeful in the
midst of disappointment, strong and restful when great things all about
me are shaking and tottering to the fall ? Yes, there is a way. A way
to independence, and mastery, and peace. What is that way ? It has
a thousand names, but call it now — Fellowship with God through Jesus
Christ our Lord. He who sits— through the mercy of the Most High —
on the throne of God, sees all things from God's point of view. He does
not grapple with mere details, is not lost amid a thousand mazy ways,
but sees the processes of life in their scope, their unity, and their whole
moral significance. Great peace have they that love thy law. " O, rest
in the Lord, and wait patiently for him." This alone can give a man
steadiness, composure, child-like assurance, and saintly triumph amid
breaking fortunes, vanishing enjoyments and comforts, and cause him to
say, " Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him." When he hath
brought his work to an end, I shall praise him for the mercy of his
judgments, and for the gentleness of his rod.

150 The City Temple

"And Jacob their father said unto them, Me have ye bereaved of my children : Joseph is
not, and Simeon is not, and ye will take Benjamin away : all these things are against me." — 36.

"And he said, My son shall not go down with you ; for his brother is dead and he is left
alone : if mischief befal him by the way in the which ye go, then shall ye bring down my gray
hairs with sorrow to the grave." — 38.

An old man, who does not know what he is talking about ! What
does the oldest and best man amongst us know about life ? Jacob is
writing a list of his grievances and misfortunes and distresses, and God's
angels are looking down upon him and saying, That the whole state-
ment, though one of what men call facts, is all a mistake from beginning
to end. Think of a man writing his life, and of God's writing the same
life in a parallel column ! Now old Israel is perfectly correct, so far as
the story is known to himself. Jacob their father said, "Me have ye

■ bereaved of my children." That is right. " Joseph is not." That is
perfectly true, so far as Jacob is concerned, so far as his information
extends. "And Simeon is not." That also is literally correct, so far as
the absence of Simeon may be regarded. "And ye will take Benjamin
away." Precisely so, that is the very thing they have in view. " All
these things are against me." It is exactly the same with us to-day.

' Men don't know what they say when they use words. They don't know
the full meaning of their own expressions. They will always snatch at
first appearances and pronounce judgment upon incomplete processes.
Every day I afflict myself with just the same rod. I know what a fool
I am for doing so, and yet I shall do it again to-morrow. There comes
into a man's heart a kind of grim comfort when he has scourged himself
well ; when he knows all the while that ten thousand errors are accusing
him of a repetition of his folly.

There are men who don't know their own family circumstances,
yet they have undertaken to pronounce judgment upon the infinite !
Some, men are very familiar with the infinite, and have a wonderful
notio.: -1 ch-ir power of managing God's concerns. We seem at home
when we go from home. Here is an old man saying, " Joseph is not,
Simeon is not, Benjamin is to be taken away. All these things are
against me." Yet we who have been in a similar position, though the
circumstances have been varied, have undertaken to pronounce judgment
upon God's way in the world, God's government, God's purposes. Why
don't we learn from our ignorance ? Why don't we read the book of our
own folly, and leam that we know nothing, being children of yesterday ?
We cannot rise to that great refinement of' learning, it would appear.
Every day we repeat our follies. It is but a man here and there who
has a claim to a reputation for religious wisdom.

How life depends upon single events ! We may say, the old
man's life is bound up in the life of Benjamin. There are

, individuals, without which the world would be cold and poor to
us all. You may say, He is but one of ten thousand, let him
go, — she is but one of a million, why care so much for her ? We

I live in ones and twos. We can't live in a countless population. We
live in an individual heart, a special individual, personal love and trust.
I cannot carry immensity ! I can only carry a heartful of love. There
are men to-day who would not care to look at the sun again if they lost

Joseph* s Brethren under Trial 151

that dear little child of theirs ; men who look at everything through the «
medium of an only daughter, or an only son ; who would not care for
spring, and summer, and golden autumn, for fortune, position, influence,
renown, if that one ewe lamb were taken away. Life may be focalized
to one point of interest, impulse, desire, and purpose. A man's life
may be centred upon one individual existence.

Let us understand, however, that Jacob does not begin his sorrow
with the possible taking away of Benjamin. This is the last sorrow of a
series. That is how some of us are worn down in soul and heart and
hope. It is not because you have had taken away one thing ; but be-
cause that one thing happens to be the last of a series. The great '
hammer that fell on a block of marble and shivered it, — did that blow
shiver it ? No. It was blow upon blow, repercussion. No one stroke
did it, though the last appeared to accomplish the end. Some of you
have had many sorrows. You think you cannot, bear the sorrow that is
now looking at you through the dark, misty cloud. You are saying, " I
should pray God to be spared that sorrow. I have had six troubles : I
cannot bear the seventh." Not knowing that the seventh trouble is the
last step into heaven ! Is there no -answer to this difiiculty of human
life that will give satisfaction to souls ? There is one ansv/er. There is
a Comforter which liveth for ever. I would not teach — God forbid that I
should ever so far lose my humanity as to teach, for a man can only
teach well in proportion as he is a niati — that we should be indifferent
about children and friends, the hearts that we love. I don't want to
grow into an independence of human regard and human trust and
human love ; I don't care to be lifted up into that position of hazy,
heartless sentimentality as to be able to let friend after friend die and
care nothing for the loss. That is not Christianity ; that is a species of
the lowest beasthood. There may be men who can see grave after
grave opened, and friend after friend put in and covered away, and
shed never a tear or feel never a pang of the heart. I would hope there
are no such men. I don't teach that Christianity enables us to destroy 1
our feeling, to crush our sensibility, and to be indifferent under the
pressure of sorrow. But Christianity does enable us to see the whole of
a case. Christianity comes to a man in his greatest losses and troubles
and bereavements, and says to him, amid his tears and regrets and
passionate bewailings, " Thou fool, that which that sowest is not
quickened except it die." Christianity teaches that death is but a
variation of life ; that the grave is not the full stop in the difficult
literature of human existence ; that when we put away from us the
dearest and best things that belong to our hearts, God will bring them
back again to us multiplied in strength and beauty and freshness.

I had several other points upon which to dwell : I can't refer to
them now. I hasten to say, in conclusion, that some of us require
most varied and prolonged humiliation before we are prepared for the
highest honours of our life. All these arrangements and tests on the ,
part of Joseph tended towards the humiliation and the penitence of his
brethren. He might instantly have said, " I am Joseph ! " They
could not have borne it. At once he might have said, *' Brethren, I for^

152 The City Temple

give you all." He might thus have done more harm than good. The men
required to be tested. They had no right or title to any consideration
that came before they were put to scrutiny and criticism. God has a
long process with some of us. He has to take away the first-born child,
and the last born, and all between. He has to come in, time after time,
and turn the cradle upside down. He has to wither our business, and
blight our fortunes, and smite us with sore disease. He has to foil our
purposes, break up our schemes, turn our counsel back upon us, and
confound us at every point, until we begin to say. What does all this
mean ? He has to make us afraid by day, he has to trouble us by
night, he has to turn even his mercies into judgments, before he can
bring us to say solemnly, with meaning, This must have some religious
intent. What does God purpose by all this various discipline ?

That, my dear friend, is what He is doing with you now. You
can't get on in life, because God wants an interview with you about the
deepest concerns of your being. You are foiled, disappointed, dis-
couraged, and all that kind of thing, meaning something higher than
you have yet realised. Oh that men were wise, that they would con-
sider ! Instead of looking into these little things as being self-inclusive,
self-terminating, they should look up to God for the solution of the
whole thing in its moral aspects and its moral issues. We shall never
get a powerful grasp of life till we move forward to it from the very
throne and heart of God. May He enable us, then, so to use this old
romantic story as to treat our own lives wisely, with religious thought-
fulness, and with all the trust which becomes men who have no lite in
themselves, who live in God, and have their being in His eternity !

he Ltty I efnple.

REPORT OF A DISCOURSE DELIVERED BY

JOSEPH PARKER,

In Poultry Chapel^ on Thursday Mornings Ap-'il 13, 1871.

(the -SEVENTY-FIFTH NOONDAY SERVICE.)

JOSEPH'S REVELATION.

'' And he commanded the steward of his house, saying, Fill the men's sacks with food, as
much as they can carry, and put every man's money in his sack's mouth.

" And put my cup, the silver cup, in the sack's mouth of the youngest, and his corn
money. And he did according to the word that Joseph had spoken.

" As soon as the morning was light, the men were sent awny, they and their asses.

" And when they were gone out of the city, and not yet far off, Joseph said unto his
steward, Up, follow after the men ; and when thou dost overtake them, say unto them, Where-
fore have ye rewarded evil for good ?

" Is not this it in which my Lord drinketh, and whereby indeed he divineth ? ye have
done evil in so doing." — Genesis, xliv., i, 2, 3, 4, 5.

STOP at this part of the narrative, to say how wonderfully

even spoiled children may be developed in those very

faculties which are supposed to lie dormant under all the

pampering and care-taking of exaggerated parental affection.

have observed, from time to time, how deep yet how simple, how

You

complete yet apparently how easy, have been all the plans and schemes

154 ^'^^ ^^"(y Temple

which Joseph devised to meet the exigencies of his trying course.

' Think of him as the spoiled boy with whom we began. The rough wind
was not to beat upon him ; he was never to get his feet wet ; any httle
thing that his father could do for him was to be done ; he was to be
, coddled and protected and saved from every little annoyance ; and if
there was an extra drop of sweetness for any member of the family it
found its way into Joseph's cup. You say, after reading all this, " What
kind of a man will he make ? Why, if there were any germ in him of
manhood at the beginning, it must have been worn out and wasted by
such excessive pampering, such ill-spent care and attention as Jacob's."
Yet he comes out of it all sagacious as a statesman, with a wonderful
breadth and solidity and substance of character, upsetting all the calcu-
lations and notions of people Avho say that if you take too much care of
a boy, pamper a life to excess, you are actually doing more harm than
good. Now, let us be clear about that, because there is a particle of
truth in that theory. I pause here, if haply my printed words — I dare
not say my spoken message — should reach any spoiled child, any over-

, pampered life. There is no occasion why you should not, after all, be
a man ! Your father's fondling and your mother's caresses need not kill
the vigour that God gave you. You may come out of it all a strong
and tender, wise and efficient servant of the public. It has been
said, too, by those people who observe the ways of men, that oftentimes
those who have been most carefully brought up can, when occasion
requires it, rough it with the best grace and can do things which excite
everybody's wonder. We say, concerning certain boys who have had

' nothing but confectionery to eat ever since they were born, that have
always been kept out of dangerous places, " Depend upon it, when the
wind turns into the east, when there is a flood or a fire, when there is
some sudden and terrible adversity in their lives, they will be un-
prepared for such a visitation." And it has turned out that the spoiled

' child has sometimes been the best man. He has stooped with a grace
which has excited the wonder of everybody ; he has shown how possible
it is, under the covering of decoration and excess of attention, to be
cultivating the best strength and preparing for the wettest day. Some

) of us, ^^ho never had two halfpennies to make a noise with, when we
have got into a little prosperity, and then a little adversity has come
sharply and suddenly round upon us, — why, Ave have grunted and
complaiiied, and been pettish and snappish, as though we had been

I nursed in the very lap of heaven and never set our feet on any-
thing coarser than gold. Oh, be men ! Do have a life that domineers
over circumstances ; that takes the bitterest cups, or the exile's solitude,
or the slave's lash, and that says, " After all, I am God's child, and I
will live for that dear Father."

So when this little scheme had been fully developed, Judah stood

' before Joseph and made a most eloquent speech to him. Sometimes
people who do not preach, but who pay a trifle a quarter to have the
privilege of finding fault with other people's preaching, say, " You
preachers ought to speak as Judah spoke — with all his naturalness and
pathos and directness." It is a very admirable suggestion : the only
difficulty about it is its occasional impracticability. Judah could not

Joseph's Revelation 155

have made a hundred and four speeches of this kind every year of his '
hfe, besides coming on Wednesday evenings to say a Httle more. Even
people who achiiire nature most profoundly would have got tired about
the hundred and fourth time, especially if they were told that Judah
intended to continue in the same pulpit ten years longer. Persons say,
" You should always speak in a passion, — then your words will thrill
and excite us." So they may do ; but you cannot teach in a passion, —
you cannot instruct when you have lost self-control. Be reasonable,
therefore, in your requirements. I admire passion. The man who is ,
capable of passion — whether it be a stormy thundering passion, or that
(^uiet passion that racks a man's very bones and sinews — I admire ;
but we must have breadths of calmness, times for exposition, critical
teaching, and the like. I say this by the way, lest Judah should un-
intentionally have intiicted an injury on the whole progeny of preachers.
Judah said, according to the sixteenth verse : —

" And Judah saidj What shall we say unto my Lord ? what shall we speak ? or how shall
we clear ourselves ? God hath found out the iniquity of thy servants : behold, we are my
lord's servants, both we, and he also with whom the cup is found." — 16.

Contrast that speech with the scene at the pit's mouth. Can you
recall the former scene ? They put the boy into the pit, sit down and
eat bread, see a party of merchantmen in the distance, suddenly resolve
on selling him ; and they exchange their brother — body, soul, and spirit —
for a handful of shekels, and never say good bye to the child. But now,
" What shall we say unto my Lord ?" Judah came near and said, " Oh
my Lord." "My Lord asked his servants." "And we said unto my Lord."
Yet once again Judah said, " My Lord." It is the same Joseph, it is the same
Judah. Such are the alternations which occur in man's life ! One great
difficulty which some of us feel, is the difficulty of punishing a body of
men. It is comparatively easy to punish one man. But it is next to an
impossibility to punish a committee. The church can injure its one poor
minister ; but what can the minister do in the way of bringing punish-
ment— not vindictive punishment, but righteous retaliation — upon an
immoral corrupt church, that will do things in its corporate capacity
which every individual member would shrink from in horror and
disgust ?

Joseph has had his work set in this business, — so to work that he
can bring the rod down upon the whole lot. How is it that we lose our
consciences when we join bodies of men? How is it that our moral
nature becomes diluted the moment we consent to act upon a committee ?
How comes it, that the honest man, when he joins a church, may be
persuaded to hold up his hand in confirmation of a resolution which is
based on corrupt morals ? Yet this may be done. There is in England
to-day many a man smarting from resolutions passed by coporate bodies,
and yet, not one of the members of these corrupt bodies will come for-
ward and say, " I took my full share of that resolution, and the responsi-
bility connected with it." One hands over the responsibility to another.
One man says, " He would not have voted for it just as it stands, but he
thought it might have saved something worse." Another says, "That
he didn't fully understand it : it was made in such a hurry, and passed

156 The City Temple

in such a tumult." And so they go on ! But they are breaking one
man's heart all the time. God's righteous curse rest upon such foul
conspiracy ! These are not passionate words. If I have spoken fire
it is because there was fuel enough to light.

So they called him, My lord ! my lord — my lord ! You cannot
redeem your character by paying compliments after the deed is done.
No man can redeem himself by too-late courtesies. There are civilities
which are right in their season, beautiful when well-timed. But they
may come at a time which aggravates the old memory and tears open
the old sore. This was so long in coming ! Let us add up the years,
and see how long Joseph was in hearing such words. He was seven-

' teen when he went out first to seek his brethren ; he was thirty when he
stood before Pharaoh. Thirteen years we have up to this point. Then

I there was seven years of plenty, during which time Joseph never heard
from his bretlven. At the end of the seven years, making twenty in all,
his brethren began to come before him. So it required something like
twenty years to bring about the scene which is now before us. Some
interpretations are a long time on the road. Some men have long to

' nurse their hopes, and to cheer themselves up, thinking that after all
God will come. Twenty years is a period which takes the strength out
of him, sucks the very sap out of his power, unless he have meat to eat
that the world knoweth not of, unless he knows the way to the well-
head and can refresh himself with the springing water. So long in
coming, but it came at last ! This is it, sirs. The bad man's day is a

' wasting day. Every moment is a moment ticked oft"", — it is one fewer.
But the good man's day is an augmenting quantity, — knows no diminu-

' tion. Whilst it wastes, it grows ; every passing hour brings the day
nearer ; and the day of the good man has no sunset. Judah continued
to speak with wonderful eloquence and pathos, pleading for the release
of Benjamin, and making wonderful use of the old man and the grey
hairs. In the the thirty-second and thirty-third verses he said : —

" For thy servant became surety for the lad unto my father, saying. If I bring him not
unto thee, then I shall bear the blame to my father for ever.

" Now therefore, I pray thee, let thy servant abide instead of the lad a bondman to my
lordj and let the lad go up with his brethren," — 32, 33.

Showing the possibility of being so very careful about one member
of the family and caring nothing about another. Here is Judah pleading

' for Benjamin as if he were his own child ; yet this same Judah took
part in selling another brother. So many of us are only good in little

' bits ! We have points of excellence. People say about us, " After all,
there are some points about him that are tolerably good." But what is
that ? We dont't want to be good in points, we want to be good
altogether ! Not to love for such reasons as Judah suggested even, in
this eloquent and pathetic appeal ; but to be good for goodness' own

' sake. Not to save some man's grey hairs ; but to honour God's law,
and thus to be most profoundly and universally gentle and pathetic.

Then there is a great fallacy underlying all such pleading as Judah's ;
at all events, a possible fallacy. We try to compensate for our evil
deeds to some people, by being extra kind to other people. Brethren, it

Jose pits Revelation 157

can't be done ! You used your poor friend very ill twenty years ago,
and the memory of it has come upon you again and again. You have ,
reproached yousself, and cursed yourself, for your unkindness, neglect,
misapprehension, cruelty, and, in order to appease yourself, to make
atonement to yourself, you have been very kind to some other friend.
But you cannot touch the dead one ! All your efforts towards helping
Benjamin have had in them some hope of doing something at least
towards making up for your cruelty to Joseph. But these efforts have
been unavailing. Whilst your friend is with you, love that friend. It is
but a short grey day we are together. There ought not to be time for
strife, and debate, and harshness, and bitterness. The hand is already
laid on the rope that shall ring the knell ! And when the eyes once
shut in the last sleep they don't open again. It is all over ! Then
come pangs, scorpions, poisonings, piercings ! We would give all the
world to have another hour — one more short hour — with the dear,
dear dead one ! But it may not be. Whatever we may do to sur-
vivors and relatives, we do not touch the great and terrible blemish
of our past life.

Now I have this question to ask : Is there any means by which I
can touch the whole of my life ? There is not. " Why," you say, " that
is the language of despair." So it is, for you. Believe me, and if the
despair is settled upon your soul, then you are so far prepared for the
gospel, which is this : You can find no means of touching all your
yesterdays, all your past life ; but God has found such means. " The
blood of Jesus Christ, Son of God, cleanseth from all sin." When we
get into the mystery of his Cross, we see how every sin can be met.
Believe me, it can be met only by all the mystery of that infinite
unspeakable love. So why should we be endeavouring to reach the past
when we have enough to do to-day ? Why should we seek to hold a life-
time, when we cannot keep ourselves right for one hour? What then?
I rest on Christ, and go up to His dear Cross and say, "If I perish, I will
perish here, where no man ever yet did perish." May God torment our
consciences, raise us to the highest point of self-accusation, remind us of
all our neglects, all our harshness, and all our cruelty, till we feel our-
selves surrounded by scorpions, by messengers of judgment, and by
terrible forces of all kinds, until there be extorted from our hearts the
cry, " God be merciful to me a sinner ! " Then there shall come out of
the Cross a glory which will cast the night of the soul away.

Judah having concluded his speech, we read in the next chapter
that Joseph could not refrain himself before all those that stood by him.
The room Avas cleared. Joseph wept aloud, and said unto his brethren,
" I am Joseph !" Joseph, and yet more than Joseph. We are not the
same twenty years afterwards that we are to-day. The old name, — yet may
be a new nature. The old identity ; yet there may be enlarged capacity,
refined sensibiUties, diviner tastes, holier tendencies. I am Joseph !
It is as if the great far-spreading umbrageous oak said, " I am the acorn !"
or the great tree said, " I am the little mustard-seed ! " Literally it was
Joseph ; yet in a higher sense it was not Joseph, but Joseph increased,
educated, drilled, magnified, put in his right position. You have no
right to treat the man of twenty years ago as if twenty years had not

158 The City Temple

elapsed. I don't know men whom I knew twenty years ago ! I know
their names ; but they may be — if I have not seen them during the
time, and if they have been reading, thinking, praying, growing —
entirely different men. You must not judge them externally, but
according to their intellectual, moral, and spiritual qualities. To treat
a man whom you knew twenty years ago as if he were the same man is
equal to handing him, in the strength and power of his years, the toys
with which he amused his infancy. Let us destroy our identity, in so
far as that identity is associated with incompleteness of strength,
shallowness of nature, poverty of information, deficiency of wisdom ;
so that men may talk to us and not know us, and our most familiar
acquaintance of twenty years ago may require to be introduced to us
to-day as if he had never heard our name.

But the point on which I wish to fasten your attention most par-
ticularly is this : — That there are in human life days of revelation,
when people get to know the meaning of what they have been looking
at notwithstanding the appearances which were before their eyes.
We shall see men as we never saw them before. The child will see his
old despised mother some day as he never saw her. And you, young
man, who have attained the patriarchal age of nineteen, and who smile
at your old father when he quotes some old maxim and wants to read a
chapter out of Avhat he calls the Holy Bible, will one day see him as
you never saw him. The angel of God that is in him will shine out
upon you, and you will see whose counsel you have despised and Avhose
tenderness you have contemned. We only see one another now and
then. Sometimes the revelation is quick as a glance, impossible to detain
as a flash of lightning. Sometimes the revelation comes in a tone of
unusual pathos, and when we hear that tone for the first time we say,
" We never new the man before. Till we heard him express himself in
that manner we thought him rough and coarse, wanting in self-control,
and delicacy, and pathos ; but that one tone ! Why, no man could have
uttered it but one who has often been closeted with God, and who has
d/ar.k deeply into Christ's own cup of sorrow."

Joseph made a more eloquent speech then Judah made. He said
to his brethren in the course of his address : " So, now, it was not you
that sent me hither, but God." The great man always ready to find an
excuse for the injury that is done him, if he possibly can find one ! This
grand doctrine is in the text : That all our little fightings, and scratch-
ings, and barterings, and misunderstandings, all our tea-table criticisms
of one another, and magazine articles in mutual depreciation, all our little
schemes to trip one another up, and to snip a little olT each other's robe,
all these things are after all secondary and tributary. "The Lord reigneth,
let the earth rejoice."

My dear friends, why should you and I trouble ourselves about
secondary agencies, and collateral movements, and incidental affairs ?
We should be right with God, right in our hearts, right at the Cross,
and then, twenty years after — may be not so many, or it may be
more — there shall come a great and true blessing to us, a recogni-
tion for which our hearts in solitude have yearned and prayed mightily
to God.

»

Joseplis Revelation 159

" Moreover he kissed all his brethren, and wept upon them : and after that his brethren
talked with him." — Genesis xlv., 15.

A day of reconciliation ! A family made one. Brethren coming
together again after long separation. It is a beautiful picture. Why
should it not be completed, where it needs completion, in our own day
amongst ourselves ? Ministers sometimes have misunderstandings and
say unkind things about one another — and exile one another from love
and confidence for years. Is there never to be a day of reconciliation
and Christian forgetfulness of wrong, even where positive wrong has been
done ? Families and households often get awry. The younger brother
differs with his eldest brother, — sisters fall out. One wants more than
belongs to him ; another is knocked to the wall because he is we
and there comes in the heart bitterness and alienation, and often brotll
and sisters never have a kind word to say about one another. I
always to be so ? Don't merely make it up, don't patch it up, don't
cover it up, — go right down to the base. You will never be made one,
until you meet at the Cross and hear Him say, " He that doeth the will
of my Father, which is in Heaven, the same is my mother, and sister,
and brother." It is in Christ's sorrow that we are to forget our woes,
in Christ's sacrifice we find the answer to our sin, in Christ's union with
the Father that Ave are to find all true and lasting reconciliation. But
who is to begin ? That is the wonderful question that is often asked us.
Who is to begin ? One would imagine that there were some very nice
people about who only wanted somebody to tell them who was to begin.
They want to be reconciled, only they don't know who is to begin. I can
tell you. You are ! That is exactly how it is. But I am the eldest, — yes,
and therefore ought to begin. But I am the youngest. Then why should
the youngest be an obstinate pig-headed child ? Who are you that you
should not go and throw yourself down at your brother's feet and say,
" I have done you wrong, pardon me ! " Who is to begin } You !
Which ? Both ! When ? Now ! Oh ! beware of the morality which
says, " I am looking for the opportunity, and if things should so get
together — " Sir ! death may be upon you before you reason out your
wretched casuistry; the injured or the injurer maybe in the grave before
you get to the end of your long melancholy process of self-laudation and
anti-christian logic.

May the God of the families of the earth and of all brotherhoods
make us willing to forgive, eager to be harmonised one with the other 1
Then our days shall be very bright, and we shall have a good hope
that, Avhen all this scene has gone, we should be one in our Father's
house, and go out no more for ever !

i6o The City Temple

Almighty God, Thou makest the outgoings of the mornnig to rejoice.'
May we answer the appeal of Thy hght ! May our hfe be a hfe of
thankfulness, a constant and profound recognition of the infinite, un-
ceasing goodness of God. Tliou leadest us by a way that we know
not, — crooked, steep, dark, perilous oftentimes : yet, since it is Thy
way, we shall walk surely and our steps shall be steadfast. Were we to
take our way, we should be ovenvhelmed by its dangers, we should find
no home at last. But the road is Thine, and the protecting hand is
Thine, and the end is Thine. Keep us patient, hopeful, trustful, thank-
ful ; then the very difficulty and weariness of the way shall but increase
and sweeten our final song. God be gracious unto those of us to whom
the way is very long and hard ! Sanctify our long waiting ! Give Thy
grace to us in our weakness, that it may become to us actually a source
of strength. Where Thou hast laid Thy rod most frequently and most
sharply do Thou also grant Thy grace, that it may be sufiicient for the
sufferer, bearing him up, cheering his inmost soul, reviving his love, even
amidst the poignancy of his anguish and the bitterness of his disappoint-
ment. Let Thy light be in us to-day. Thou dost always bring the light
round about us, but we cannot live on that light. We want the inward
glory, the splendour of the heart, the brightness which is above the
brightness of the sun. Then there shall be in our hearts, as there is in
Thy heaven, no night. Give us wisdom to understand Thee, to wait
for Thee, to pray to Thee. Save us from the temptation which comes of
our own incompleteness and imperfectness. Help us to distinguish
between the spasms of our own broken strength and Thy great power.
Oh, Thou Creator of the ends of the earth, be merciful unto us, and give
us to feel how good a thing it is to be nestled in the very heart of Thy
love ! To the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Ghost, in whose
name we were baptized, and whom Ave adore as one God, be the
homage of every heart, time without end ! Amen.

The City Temple.

REPORT OF A DISCOURSE DELIVERED BY

JOSEPH PARKER,

In Poultry Chapel , on Thursday Mornings April 20, 1871.

(the seventy-sixth noonday service.)

JOSEPH'S DEATH.

" And Joseph died, and all his brethreiij and all that generation." — Exodus, i., 6.

0-DAY we bring to a conclusion our readings of the history
of Joseph. We have been engaged some seven Thursdays in
going over the points of that romantic story. This morning
we gather up a few miscellaneous points, and conclude our
whole study of the eventful, stimulating, and instructive narrative. The
first point occurs in connection with Joseph sending for his father.

" Haste ye, and go up to my father, and say unto him. Thus saith thy son Joseph, God
hath made me Lord of all Egypt : come down unto me, tarry not :

" And thou shalt dwell in the land of Goshen, and thou shalt be near unto me, thou, and
thy children, and thy children's children, and thy flocks, and thy herds, and all that thou
hast.

" And there will I nourish thee ; for yet there are five years of famine ; lest thou, and
thy household, and all that thou hast, come to poverty." — Genesis, xlv., 9, 10, 11.

Joseph was still a son, though lord over all Egypt. He had still
an affectionate heart, though pomp and circumstance conspired to give

1 62 The City Temple

him great eminence and wonderful power in the whole land of his
' enforced adoption. A man should never forget his father. Twenty
years afterwards and more, Joseph's heart yearned after his father with
all a child's clinging trustfulness and unsophisticated trembling pathos.
A man should always be a boy when his father is at hand. Did I say
always ? Alas ! I am compelled to add that there are circumstances
under which fathers cease to be fathers. There may arise such com-
binations of circumstances as shall dispossess a man ot his fatherhood,
that shall turn him into a stranger and an alien. It is well, therefore,
for us, whether fathers or children, clearly to understand this matter.
Nothing but moral considerations should ever separate a father and his
child. ^ Not because the father is poor should the child disown him or
treat his name lightly ; not because he is destitute of learning should
a child affect to contemn his parent. But when the father is morally
corrupt, — when all the rain, and sunshine, and dew, and living breeze of
a child's long-continued patient love have been lost upon him, — then
there may come a time of final separation, when the child says, " I have
no father." What is animal parentage, after all ? You say you are a
man's father : but what is the meaning of that ? If that fatherhood is
but fleshly, it is not parentage in any deep, tender, lasting sense of the
term. It may be a relationship that can hardly be helped, — an external
temporary relationship ; there is no kinship enduring that is not moral.
It is when souls are akin that fatherhood and sonship, brotherhood and
sisterhood, are established. It may come to be the same thing with the
son. There are fathers who have been compelled to shut the door
on their own sons, and did not do so lightly ; it was not for the first
offence, — it was not until every hope had been disappointed, every
godly desire had been repulsed and mortified, and all the volume and
passion of human love had been repelled and scorned and blasphemed.
Blessed are they who would for ever keep all family relationships, all
tender kindreds, fresh, blooming, bright ! If they would do so they
must live in Christ, — their centre must be fixed upon the eternal love of
the One Father. Then they will never outgrow their affections ; they
will be young for ever, responsive to the voice of love, always sensitive,
tender, good.

A very beautiful speech is this which Joseph m.akes concerning his
flither. " Say unto him,, God liath made me lord of all Egypt ; there-
fore the bond between us is cut. Say to him, I disown my relationship
to a shepherd, a man living in the bush, keeping flocks and herds, and
wandering about from place to place. Say I am lord of all Egypt, and
to come within the circle of my influence is to be blinded and dazzled
by my glory." What a chivalrous, filial, beautiful speech ! But for-
tunately we have put that speech into Joseph's mouth. Yet how well it
would come after the introduction, " Say unto him, I am lord over all
Egypt." But that is not the message. You would say, you who had
not read it but only heard it, " It sounded very like that." So it did,
but it was perfectly different from that. The speech reads : " Thus
saith thy son Joseph, God hath made me lord of all Egypt." It is the
word God that saves the speech, that makes it musical, that gives it
high tone and noble bearuig, profound and gentle meaning. If Joseph

Joseph's Death, 163

had said, '' Tell my father I am lord over all Egypt," I should have
expected a different ending to the speech. But when a man's great-
ness— whatever it be, political, social, or religious — is all traced to God,
out of that one consideration will come wisdom, and nobleness, ancl
pathos. Always depend upon a man who finds in God the redeemer
of his soul, the elevator of his circumstances. Religion never made a
man haughty ; Christianity never made a man unendurable. There have
been many great men self-conceited, dangerous to go near, self-
important, — always standing upon what they call their dignity ; but
they did not know what it was to live in God and to live for Christ,
and to exert their influence from the elevation of the Cross.
My young friend on the way to eminence, having a sceptre of wide
influence just in view, seeing thy way clear to ten thousand a year and
many accessories to thy greatness and stability, know this : That thy
throne will have but a tottering foundation if it rest anywhere but
upon the omnipotence and all-graciousness of God.

The next point arises in comiection with Jacob's receipt of the
intelligence : —

" And they went up out of Egypt, and came into the land of Canaan unto Jacob their
father,

" And told him, saying, Joseph is yet alive, and he is governor over all the land of Egypt.
And Jacob's heart fainted, for he believed them not.

" And they told him all the words of Joseph, which he had said unto them : and when he
saw the wagons which Joseph had sent to carry him, the spirit of Jacob their father revived :

" And Israel said. It is enough ; Joseph my son is yet alive : I will go and see him
before I die." — 25, 26, 27, 28.

Observe, in the first instance, the old man's heart fainted, for the
news was to him too good to be true. There is in life an element
which is continually upsetting probabilities, — thus calling men up from
lethargy, from that flatness, staleness, and unprofitableness of life which
would necessarily predominate if there was nothing strange, sensational,
and romantic in our human relationships and in the events by which
we are surrounded. Now and then we require to be startled a little.
Men do us good who rouse us. The preacher who makes me shake
does me good, — who gives me one new view of truth, who rouses me out
of my indifterence, who gives me to feel that as yet I know next to nothing.
So in daily life, things that are common sometimes flame up before us into
new significance, and old ruts seem sometimes to have new spikes of
grass and new roots coming out of them. These things call us away
from apathies that would benumb and deaden the soul. But we cannot
always live in the wonderful. It is there that so many persons get
wrong. You cannot live upon champagne ; you cannot live upon
luxuries ; you can't live healthily on sensation. You must have some-
thing substantial, real, deep, vital, — something that touches the pro-
foundest experience of your life, the inmost consciousness of your spirit,
and that follows you through all the engagements of the day. You
must have the practical as well as the imaginative ; you must have the
substantial as well as the poetical. I believe in the airy dream ; I
believe also in the solid rock. I like to look on the far-flashing cross
that surmounts the great pile ; but let me remember that yonder cross

164 . The City Temple

never would have blazed in the rismg or setting sun if there were not
somewhere the great strong foundation on which it is rested.

So though the news was too romantic for Jacob, though it caused
him to fall into a swoon, yet the old man, who always had an eye for
the practical, looked up, saw the waggons, and his heart revived. We
must have waggons as well as poems. It ;is a sad and vulgar thing ;
but we must have the substantial, the tangible, and the appreciable,
as well as the metaphysical the transcendental, the mystical, the
bewildering, and the grand. It is even so in the religious life. The
long prayer must be succeeded by the noble deed. The bold theolo-
gical statement must be flanked, buttressed, or otherwise supported by
unchallengable morality. What if a man says he believes in God and
his deeds be ungodly ? what does his belief in God do for him ? What
if a man says, " I have faith," and have no works ? What if a man
preach the gospel and be not himself the gospel ?

The brethren had good news for their father. But beyond the good
news there must be something else to bring it near to his appreciation.
You require to meet men according to their circumstances. God must
himself become man before he can touch us and get his mighty redeem-
ing hold upon us ; for we know not the infinite except as it be
accommodated to us through the medium of Christ's dear personality,
except as it be focalised in the one redeeming life. What did Jacob
say when power of speech returned to him ? " It is enough ; Joseph is
yet alive." What did his brethren say about his being in Egypt ? They
said he was governor over all the land of Egypt. Joseph sent word
that he was lord over all the land. Jacob said, " He is alive ! " A
man can't live upon lords and governors and fine eminent personages
in their merely official capacity. There are times when we strip away
all ribbons and flowers and decorations and other trumperies, and go
right into the life and heart of things. Why if they had said to Jacob,
"Joseph is yet alive : we found him lying in the hedge side, just alive,
with hardly anything to cover him, — a poor, lonely, forlorn wanderer !"
would that have made any difterence to Israel ? Would he not just as
much have yearned for his child ? Let us hope he would. There are
times, I repeat, when we want to know about the life rather than the
condition. A man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the things
which he posseseth.

Whatever Israel's feelings might have been concerning Joseph had
the statement of the circumstances been other, let me preach this
glorious gospel : God does not ask whether we be lords, potentates, or
governors ; but whether we have turned our poor dying eyes towards
our abandoned home. The moment He hears — and He always listens —
the soul say, " I will arise and go to my Father," He comes to meet us,
to anticipate the statement of our sin and penitence, and to clothe us
with his unsearchable riches. Men can't believe that. It is at that
point that souls are damned by the million. They want to send word
to Him that they are lords over the land and governors over their
circumstances ; that they can maintain themselves pretty well, after all ;
but if he likes to meet them on an independent basis they will hold
an interview with Almighty God. He will not accept that challenge.

Joseph's Death. 165

He does not know us when our heads are Hfted up in that insanity. It
is when we are nothing and have nothing, and hioiu it, and turn our
poor, disappointed, shattered hearts towards his dwehing-place, towards
the Cross of Christ, that he meets us with the infinite fulness of his
pardon and all the assurance of his willingness to save.

Then the third point brings up the meeting between Joseph
and his father : — ■

•' And Joseph made ready his chariot, and went up to meet Israel his father, to Goshen,
and presented himself unto him ; and he fell on his neck, and wept on his neck a good while.

" And Israel said unto Joseph, Now let me die, since I have seen thy face, because thou
art yet alive." — xlvi., 29, 30.

A beautiful combination of official duty and filial piety ! The
whole land of Egy])t is suftering from famine. Joseph is the controller and
the administrator of the resources of the land. He does not abandon
his position and go away to Canaan ; but he gets the chariot out and he
must go part of the road. " I know I am father to Pharaoh and all his
great people. I shall not be away long ; I shall soon be back again to
my duties. I must go a little way to meet the old man from home."
Yes, I don't care what our duties are, we can add a little pathos to them
if we like ; whatever we be in life, we can add a little sentiment to our
life. And what is life without sentiment ? What are the flowers without
an occasional sprinkling of dew ? It may be a grand thing to sit on a
high stool and wait till the old man comes upstairs. But it is an in-
finitely grander thing, a " lordlier chivalry," to come off the stool and go
away to meet him a mile or two on the road. Your home will be a better
home — I don't care how poor the cot — if you will have a little senti-
ment in you, a little tenderness and nice feeling. These are things
that sweeten life. I don't want a man to wait until there is an earth-
quake in order that he may call and say, How do you do ? I don't
want a man to do earthquakes for me. Sometimes I want a chair
handed, and a door opened, and a kind pressure of the hand, and
a gentle word. And as for the earthquakes, why — wait until they
come !

What a beautiful picture of reunion is this ! He fell on his neck,
and wept on his neck a good while. See them there ! The old man
not speaking, because he cannot speak, — speaking most because saying
nothing. Joseph not speaking for some time. Only weeping upon one
another ! Then Jacob, not wanting the thing to be spoiled, says,
" Now the next thing, the next thing, Joseph, must be heaven ! What-
ever comes after this will be an anti-climax. Now let me die ! " It was as
old Simeon spake when he saw the child of God, " Now let thy servant
depart in peace." We do now and again in life come to points we don't
want to leave. We say, *' Lord, let us build here." But the Lord says,
No, not here, because there is a lunatic at the foot of the hill ; and you
must not build and put yourself into nice places, and settle down, until
you have seen if you cannot heal the lunacy that is down in the world.

I can't look upon those two men together without feeling that
moral gulfs may be bridged. Joseph was no prodigal son. But as I
see Joseph and his father resting on each other, and weeping out their

1 66 The City Temple

joy, I can't but think of that other and grander meeting, when a man
who has been twenty years away from God, or fifty years away from all
that is true and beautiful in moral life, finds his way back ! He does
not go in a chariot or walk uprightly, but crawls on his bare hands and
knees ; and God meets him, lifts him up, and when the man begins to tell
" How poor and — •" God hushes him with a great burst of forgiving
love ! It seems as if God will never allow us to finish the statement of
our penitence. It is enough for Him that we begin the story, punctuat-
ing it with sobs and tears. He causes the remainder of the statement
to go down in the ocean of his love, in the infinitude of his mercy !
Is there to be any home-going to-day ? Is any man going to say, " I
shall arise and go to my father." Go ! He calleth thee, — poor old
pilgrim, grey-headed, burdened, sinful, self-abhorring ! Go ! And thou
shalt come out no more for ever !

The fourth point arises in connection with Jacob's introduction
to Pharaoh : —

" And Joseph brought in Jacob his father, and set him before Pharaoh : and Jacob blessed
Pharaoh.

" And Pharaoh said unto Jacob, How old art thou ?

" And Jacob said unto Pharaoh, The days of the years of my pilgrimage are an hundred
and thirty years: few and evil have the days of the years of my life been, and have not attained
unto the days of the years of the life of my fathers in the days of their pilgrimage." — xlvii., 7, 9.

It is very tender, pathetic, and instructive to hear an old man sum
up his life. How did Jacob sum up his earthly course ? He said
it was a " pilgrimage." He ha i been going from place to place,
hardly ever resting, always on the move, scarcely ever taking off his
sandals, scarcely laying down his staff. Life is a pilgrimage to us. We
are strangers here ; we have no continuing city here. Jacob also said
that the days of the years of his life had been few. Think of a man
over a hundred years of age saying that his days had been few ! They
are few when looked back upon. They seem so to run into one another
as to make but a moment. You look a hundred years ahead, and you
cannot endure the thought of existing, under present circumstances, so
long a time. Yet, if you could go to the other end of the century and
look back upon the vanished days, you would say they had been few.
Jacob said that not only the days had been few but evil. We do get to
see the brokenness of life, its incompleteness, its fragmentariness, when
we get through it. But when it is all over, and the old man looks back,
he says, "Evil have been my days. If not morally evil altogether, if here
and there there are signs of holiness and trust in God, — yet, looked at
as a whole my life has been a poor structure ; my days have been evil ;
I have been wanting in effective work. There is not one word of self-
praise I can claim when I look back on the days of my pilgrimage."

Now we come to the last scene of all, to close this strange event-
ful history. " Joseph died, and all his brethren and all that genera-
tion." Joseph died ! Then after all, he was but mortal, like ourselves !
It is important to remember this, lest we should let any of the great
lessons slip away under the delusion that Joseph was more than man.

josepfis Death. 167

We have seen fidelity so constant, heroism so enduring, magnanimity
so — I had ahnost said — divine, that we are apt to think there must have
been something more than human about this man. No. He was
mortal, like ourselves. His days were consumed as are our days ; little
by little his life ebbed out ; and he was found, as Ave shall be found,
dead. So, then, if he was but mortal, why can't we be as great in our
degree ? If he was only a man, why can't we emulate his virtue, so far
as our circumstances will enable us to do so ? We can't all be equally
heroic and sublime. We can all be, by the grace of God, equally
holy, patient, and trustful in our labour.

Joseph died ! Thus the best, wisest, and most useful men are
withdrawn from their ministry ! This is always a mystery in life : That
the good man should be taken away in the very prime of his usefulness ;
that the eloquent tongue should be smitten with death ; that a kind
father should be withdrawn from his family circle ; and that wretches
who never have a noble thought, who do not know what it is to have a
brave heavenly impulse, should seem to have a tenacity of life that is
unconquerable ; that drunken men and hard-hearted individuals should
live on and on, — while the good, and the true, and the wise, and the
beautiful, and the tender, are snapped oft in the midst of their days
and translated to higher climes. The old proverb says, " Whom the
gods love die young." Sirs ! There is another side to this life, other-
wise t'hese things would be inexplicable, — would be chief of the myste-
ries of God's ways. We must wait, therefore, until we see the circle
completed before we sit in judgment upon God.

Joseph died ! Then the world can get on without its greatest and
best men. This is very humiliating to some persons. Here is, for
example, a man who has never been absent from his business for twenty
years. You ask him to take a day's holiday, go to a church opening or
to a religious festival. He says, " My dear sir ! Why, the very idea !
The place would go to rack and ruin if I was away four-and-twenty
hours." It comes to pass that God sends a most grievous disease upon
the man, — imprisons him in the darkened chamber for six months.
When he gets up at the end of six months, he finds the business has
gone on pretty much as well as if he had been wearing out his body
and soul for it all the time. Very humiliating to go and find things
getting on without us ! Who are we ? The preacher may die, but the
truth will be preached still. The minister perishes, — tlae ministry is
immortal. This ought to teach us, therefore, that we are not so im«
portant, after all ; that our business is to work all the little hour that
we have ; and to remember that God can do quite as well without us
as with us, and that He puts an honour upon us in asking us to touch
the very lowest work in any province of the infinite empire of His
truth and light.

When few die we can name them one by one, — count them on our
fingers. " Joseph died." Some deaths are national events. Some
deaths are of world-wide importance. " And all his brethren." There
we begin to lose individuality. Death is coming upon us now quicker.
We have no time to go through them,- — Judah, Simeon, Reuben, and so
forth. '' All his brethren and all that generation." Death is mowing

1 6s The City Temple

them down ! You have no time to read their names and pick each out
individually. Such is death ! Crushing up one generation in one
grasp ; mowing down the next with one swing of the scythe. We can-
not all, therefore, be equally conspicuous ; each cannot have his name
^^Titten in history as having died. Some of us will be classed in dozens.
"All his brethren," and no name left ! Others of us will not even be
known as families and households. We die as parts of a generation, —
a great crowd, an innumerable body ! What of it ? The thing is not
to leave a name behind us — a mere name. It is to leave behind in-
fluences that hearts will feel, memories that will be cherished at home
and that will be blest by those whom we have served and helped in
life. Die ! The time will come when men will laugh at death. We
shall one day get such a view of the universe, that we shall look down
upon death and say, " Oh Death, where is thy sting? " How so? Jesus
Christ abolished death. If we believe in Him, death will no longer be
to us a spectre, a ghost, a frightful guest in the house, sucking out
our blood and darkening our future. It will then become a swinging
door, — and, as it swings, we shall pass in to light, to music, to rest.
Death will always be a frightful thing to the man who has no Saviour.
Death must be more or less a terror to every man who is not in Christ.
He may have lived himself into that measure of beasthood that wiil not
confess terror. I never knew of an ox, a felled ox, saying, " Death is
very terrible." So there are some men who have lived themselves down
so iDcastward and devilward that they hardly know death from life. But
to a man who has any consciousness of right and wrong, any moral
sensitiveness, if he have not God in the house, death must be an un-
welcome thing to him, an ugly guest, a dark and terrible interlocutor.
But the man who is in Christ, his life is above the reach of death.
When the body crumbles and falls down, to get up no more in this
state of things, the soul is a guest in Heaven. A guest ? Nay, —
he is a child at Home !

The City Temple.

REPORT OF A DISCOURSE DELIVERED BY

JOSEPH PARKER,

In Poultry Chapel, on Thursday Morning, April 27, 1871.

(the seventy-seventh noonday service.)

THE STRAIT GATE.

" Strait is the gate, ami narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that
find it." — Matthew, vii., 14.

URING the course of our teacliing in this place, we have
frequently insisted that there is in many practical departments
of life and thought a much less distance between human reason
and divine revelation than has been supposed by many. The
ways of God and the thoughts of God are, indeed, higher than man's
ways and thoughts, as the heaven is higher than the earth. Necessarily
so ; and yet divine revelation — in some departments at least, and those
not the least important — may be the continuance and consummation
S

1 70 The City Temple

of human reason. God may meet us upon the Hnes which we ourselves
have laid down for the guidance of our own life. He may continue, exalt,
and glorify those lines until his revelation shall actually be the climax,
the crown and glory of our own reason.

The text before us affords an opportunity of continuing the kind of
illustration we have so often employed. It enables us, at the very outset,
to say that in proportion to the importance of any kingdom is the
stringency of the conditions of entrance. In the mean time we shall
forget that there is a kingdom of heaven. We shall look into the king-
doms of the earth which men account important, imperial, worthy of
possession ; and I guarantee to find upon the portals of all such kingdoms
these words : " Strait is the gate, and narrow is the way." It will be
something to find that inscription above the gates which open upon all
the kingdoms which men who sneer at religion think important. Then,
if we can read this inscription in their own handwriting upon the gates
which Qpen on their petty empires, what if we shall find the same words
written — only written by the hand of God — over the portals which open
on the city of the Great King ? We shall thus be enabled to see
that divine revelation, though often above human reason, is not always
opposed to it ; and that God will have a judgment against us — irresistible,
penetrating, and terrible — on account of the very principles which we
ourselves have laid down in those departments of life which we considered
important.

Here is the kingdom of human learning : Knowledge, critical
acquaintance with letters, ample and accurate information about history,
power of scientific enquiry, collation, analysis, all that is known by the
name of learning,— and over the gate of that kingdom I find this in-
scription, " Strait is the gate, narrow is the way." A man does not by
shaking his little arms shake himself into scholarship ; it is not done by
a wave of the hand. It is done in yonder way : — See ! where the man
gets up before the lark, before the sun calls him with its voice of light,
who trims his lamp, and goes over yesterday's lesson in critical review
before he begins to-day's study ; pulls himself up by every variety of
discipline ; cudgels his memory, stores his mind with all kinds of
literature ; who works after the sun has gone away, to take the morning
with him to some distant clime, turning over the pages of his book — not
as you turn over the pages of your light reading — but reading every
word, studying every sentence, extracting the gold from every book.
We say, " Why are you doing this ? " " Because," he says, " I am
determined to be a subject in the kingdom of learning, and the motto
over the gates is this, ' Strait and narrow is the gate, the road.' "
So we begin already to admit the principle of the text, that in propor-
tion to the scope and importance of any kingdom is the stringency of
the conditions of entrance.

Here is a little kingdom, which we shall characterise as the
kingdom of merely muscular competition. Men are going to try
muscular force with their fellow-men, — they are going to have a
boat race. You and I cannot walk along the river-side and instantly
take into our heads the notion that we will have a spin with these men
and beat them all. That can't be done. Strait is the gate and narrow is

The Strait Gate 171

the way that leads even to athletic supremacy. The men are going into
training ; they are going to put themselves under tutors and governors ;
they are going to submit to a bill of fare and a course of discipline which
you and I would take to very unkindly. But why are they going to do
so ? Because they have determined to take a higher seat in the kingdom
of mere athletic exercise and enjoyment. Now it is a very strange thing
that you, a man fourteen stones weight, cannot just get into the very
first boat that comes in your way and outstrip the men who have been
in drill and training and exercise for the last three months. But you
cannot do so. As a mere matter of fact, a man who has been drilled,
disciplined, exercised, will beat you, except a miracle be wrought
for your advantage. So we are getting nearer and nearer to the prin-
ciple that in proportion to the importance of any object, the scope of
any kingdom, the consequence of any condition of affairs, is the narrow-
ness of the road, is the straitness of the gate. It is the same with all
kinds of intellectual supremacy. Granted that there may be inspired
geniuses here and there, — let us allow that some men may have had
a short and easy road to intellectual power and supremacy, — still the
rule holds good : That he who would be highest must toil most per-
severingly and conscientiously.

Here, for example, is a man who wishes to excel in authorship.
You read his book. You don't see all that lies behind the book.
You don't see the rough outline which he first sketched, — writing off-
hand, as it were, — on, and on, and on, — blotting, and interlining, and
erasing. There it is j just a rough manuscript, with hardly any shape, —
a line of thought running through it which he alone can see.
He lays it aside and takes up another sheet \ brings then the rough
draft, writes over many parts with care, compression, condensation, that
he may give it point and pertinence. He burns the first draft ; lays the
second aside, lays it by for six months, until he has become another
man, viz. a critic of his own productions. He takes up his manuscript
again for the last time, — goes through it, striking out everything
that is opposed to taste, inserting, improving, refining, curving, en-
riching, and expending himself upon it. Ask why ? He says,
" I mean this book to live after I have been taken away. I
mean this to be a testimony. I mean this to be the last, richest,
best expression of my attainments and my convictions ; therefore I
have expended myself fully upon its preparation." What is it
that is written over the man's study and over the man's desk ?
This : " Strait is the gate, narrow is the way." No doubt there are
men who can write beautiful nothings by the mile, sell them in the
morning, and have them forgotten at sundown. But the writers who wish
to enrich all coming generations, to stimulate the most distant posterity,
have not the knack of shaking out of their coat sleeves the standard
literature of the country. It is a question of preparation, self-culture,
self-control, and putting out the stress of the whole being upon it. Then,
at least, a man deserves to succeed. The eftbrt after all may not be
masterly, the man may fail to attain the position at which he has
aimed ; but *' in all labour there is profit," and the man himself is fuller
and stronger for the very industry which he has put forth.

172 The City Temple

We are thus enabled to say that the entrance to the kmgdom of
Heaven is necessarily the straitest, narrowest of all. What are other
kingdoms to the Kingdom of Life ? When you have learned all that
books can convey to you, what is your kingdom ? When you have
obtained all the money that you can possibly own, what is the kingdom
of pecuniary means ? When you have sharpened, quickened, stimulated,
and enriched your brain to the highest possible point, what is the king-
dom of mere intellectual force and supremacy when compared with the
Kingdom of Life in God ? As therefore this is held to \>q the highest
kingdom of all, where is the unreasonableness of making the conditions
of entrance into this kingdom the most exacting and stringent of all ?
For one, I am prepared to say, on reading the conditions, " This is
human reason ; this is human reason glorified ; this is God adapting
Himself to our own instincts." Some men have found the gate very
strait and the way very narrow. For example : The philosophical man
who came to Jesus by night, admitted that Jesus Christ was a teacher
sent of God, otherwise he could not have done the works which he did ;
Jesus took him to the gate at once, and said, " Except a man be born
again he cannot see the kingdom of Heaven." See it ! Have no notion
about it, — have no glimmering conception of its light and extent and
glory. The gate was there called, " the new birth."

Another man came to Jesus Christ carrying on his broad shoulders
riches without reckoning, great possessions. Jesus said, " Before you
can go through this gate you must lay that burden down. Strait is the
gate and narrow is the way." " Lay it down ? Well, then, when I get
through the gate, can I reach over and pull it up and take it back
again ? " " No, Sell all that thou hast, give to the poor ; take up thy
cross and follow me." And he said, " Strait is the gate, narrow is the
way," and went away from it carrying his burden with him.

Then there was a third man — a lean, cold, spectral man — never
sunny, genial, poetical, for a day in his life : skin and bone — skin and
bone. And they called him a Pharisee. He stood in all his erect lean-
ness, and said how often he fasted, what tithes he paid, and what an
excellent man he Avas. Jesus Christ said, " Well, you cannot go in at
this gate; You will have to lay down and trample under foot all that
fasting and tithe-paying, all that excellent virtue, for ' Strait is the gate.' "
A man has to lay down a great deal before he can get through this gate.
He has to take a great many idols out of his pockets and throw them
away ; then to go through the chambers of his mind and take out
theory after theory, by the hundred, and blow them away. Ha !
Except ye be converted and become as little children — simple-minded,
gentle, pure, loving, trustful children — ye cannot enter into the kingdom
of Heaven. Great, tall men, who believe in themselves — who are
afraid they will knock their heads against the stars if they stand right
up — cannot cannot get in. The gate truly is strait and the way
narrow !

But let us suppose for one moment that a man can get into cir-
cumstances, conditions, and surroundings for which he is not prepared.
Let those conditions and surroundings be moral, and let his disqualifica-
tion be of the same kind, — moral. What will follow ? This : he will

The Strait Gate 173

soon want to get out again. Here is a wedding feast, — the guests are
all prepared for the banquet and the joy. One man has stolen in who
has not the right robe on. Why, it is as if he had crept into an oven, a
hot oven ! Nobody speaks to him ; yet he feels if there was only a way
out — down here, or along there, or up yonder — anywhere to get out again !
because the whole atmosphere is against him. You know what it is to
have an atmosphere against you ? Not an army of soldiers coming out,
so many abreast, with spikes, and guns, and mighty weapons of war.
Not that, but the atmosphere, the subtle, impalpable thing that gets
round and round you, and burns you ! It would be even so if a man
could get into the kingdom of heaven by jumping over the wall, instead
of going through the strait gate, walking along the narrow way. The
ungodly man could not be at home in heaven. Heaven is not in the
jasper wall, and the pavement of gold, in the sparkling fountains, and the
amaranths immortal as the beauty of God. Heaven is in the spirit, in
the disposition, in the soul. If a man could get into God's heaven, and
have with him — not a bad deed, not hands stained, tainted, and blackened
through and through — but just an unexpressed desire, something between
a thought and a thing, that is impure and untrue, that one spot would
ruin his heaven, and he would long to get out of it. He who goes not
in by the gate and travels not by the narrow road, even if he could be
admitted into heaven, would soon wish to be out again.

We are thus prepared to say, that by so much as men have the
power to strive for inferior kingdoms will they be witnesses against them-
selves if they fail to strive after the highest kingdom of all. Men are
continually getting up evidence which will be used for them or against
them in the day of judgment. The day of judgment may be the shortest
day that ever dawned, may be but a moment, because every man will
judge himself, and one look at God's face will mean destiny ! By so
much as we have the power to strive, and have admitted the principle of
striving, in relation to inferior kingdoms, are we preparing a judgment
against ourselves if we have not accepted the conditions of entrance
into the divine empire. Let us now have a judgment day. There is no
occasion to wait ten thousand years for the day of judgment. We can
have it now i

Here is a man who has, for the last thirty years, been scraping
money together. Getting up early, sitting up late, — squeezing, pressing,
urging, driving everything that promised to contribute to his possessions.
He has had no time for pleasure, no time for what the world calls re-
laxation. He has been worshipping his god night and day ; he sees it in
the light ; it is the heaven of his dreams. Let him stand forward ! What
does God say to him ? " Thou wicked and slothful servant ! thou knew-
est, thou oughtest therefore — " That is God's logic, — sharper than a two-
edged sword. He takes the word out of the witness's own mouth. He
does not superimpose upon a man a new standard of judgment, or force
upon him an arbitrary view of things. He listens to the man's own story ;
shapes the man's own words into a weapon, pierces him with that wea-
pon : " Thou knewest ! thou oughtest therefore — " That is turning a
man upon himself, and making him feel the justness of God through

174 The City Temple

the very principles and policy which he himself has adopted and
pursued.

Let the eloquent man be judged, the man who has made the uses
of speech his study from his earliest days. Hear his statement, but fail
to follow his example : "I copied with my own hands six times the
most voluminous histories of my country, that I might attain to what I
supposed were the excellencies of their style. I disqualified myself for
appearing in ordinary society by disfiguring my personal appearance, in
order that I might bind myself to study by day and practice of speech
by night. I have put pebbles in my mouth to cure my stammering ;
I have run up the steepest hills in the country that I might strengthen my
lungs ; I have harangued the sea that I might obtain power over tumult-
uous elements ; if you would follow me along the road, walk it as I have
done, inch by inch." And he has never thought about God's kingdom —
kingdom of light, and life, and truth, and beauty. Hear God ! "Thou
wicked and slothful servant, thou knewest, thought didst understand all
about care and pains and discipline and culture, thou oughtest therefore — "
And the man has no answer. No man can answer God when he

• comes face to face with his Maker ! He may chaffer with him now ; he
may utter his little speeches against his Maker now. But when it comes
to the last reckoning of all, when a man takes up his life in his hand
and says, '^ This is what I have done," God will point out to the man
in his own life the things which will damn and consume him !

It is the same with position. You know how you have laboured for
your position : you counted no toil too severe that you might attain your
present status. You have even submitted to be snubbed and ignored
and slighted. Sometimes you have stooped where you would gladly
have stood erect ; sometimes you have done things from which your
best nature has shrunk ; but, you have said, " I want to reach yonder
eminence, and I will do it." That is your character. You avi strive.
If you can strive for a bubble, if you can follow a feather, borne away

' upon the flying winds, why not strive to enter in at the strait gate ? If
you could not have got into any other kingdom without strife, contention,
discipline, and if you have undergone these that you might enter an in-
ferior kingdom, by your own words you shall be judged and condemned
if you have not taken the kingdom of heaven by violence ! God yields
to the violent. Omnipotence gives itself into the hands of importunity.
Observe, then, that the day of judgment will be a very severe day for

' those of us who are proceeding upon the supposition that any answer
will do for God.

What is this kingdom of which we have been speaking ? It is
called the Kingdom of Life. Jesus Christ has said, " Enter ye in at
the strait gate, for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leadeth to
destruction, and many there be which go in thereat : Because strait is
the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be
that find it." There are two gates, and only two. Two roads, and only
- two. Two destinies, and only two. The gate, the way leading to
destruction, — the way leading to life. So, then, out of Christ we do not
live. I wish we could lay hold upon that doctrine more truly and

The Strait Gate 175

understand it more profoundly. It would give us, I had nearly said, a
new theology. It would be new in as much as many an incrustation
would be thrown off, and we should get back to Christ's own stand-point.
Christ says, " Wickedness is death." Christ says, " I am come that ye
might have life." But surely we live ? We are men, we are scholars,
we are statesmen, we are poets, — surely we live ? No. You shoAv your
capacity to live ; you show that there is a germ in you Avhich J esus
Christ can touch into immortality, and glorify into the very splendour of
God's own being and image. A man is only a splendid animal, at his
best estate, if he have not had infused into him the life, the immortality
of Christ. Brethren, let us preach this : That a man may be developed
and Darwinised up to the highest possible point, and then he is only a
decorated nothing, an empty palace, if he be not in Christ, linked on to
God, saved by the redemption of Christ's Cross ! This idea stirs me
with the holiest, gladest emotion : it makes the world quite a new world
to me ; it gets rid of a thousand little objections which I dare not name
in the pulpit, but which in my study have beeen gnawing at my heart
and impairing my strength. "Strait is the gate, narrow is the way, which
leadeth unto life." It must be a difficult thing for some men with great
grasp of mind, of wonderful attainments, of reading, of knowledge, of
wisdom, which many of us admire and covet, — it must be a difficult
thing for them to think that they do not live. They have got to the
very highest point in the lower kingdom ; there is nothing more to be
done there. The question now is : Will you have life according to the
interpretation of the Son of God or will you not ? He that believeth
shall be saved. Saved, transferred, continued, immortalized, glorified.
He that believeth not shall go back, shall lose himself little by little,
lose himself in great breadths, shall be cut down, shall wither away !
" Yea, I sought him and he could not be found."

That is a terrible doctrine to preach as far unbelievers are concerned.
It may be light to those who do not know what life is. But when God
judges a man, turns the man's own life upon him as a frown and a con-
demnation, it will be found to be a terrible, a. fearful thing to fall into
the hands of the living God. My soul, go not thou into that secret I
Know, man, that death will have thee ! There is a death that Avill find
us all out. It depends upon our moral condition whether that death
shall be to us welcome or unwelcome. "We are all hastening to one
meeting place. You who are on the mountain top yonder, golden with
the light of the morning ; you who are in the dark, dank, wet valley,
where the trees are dripping and the road is steep ; you who are walk-
ing though garden land, beautiful and flowery and fragrant ; you who
are knee-deep in snow, or are going through the arid burning desert
sand ; — we shall all come face to face at one solemn rendezvous ! Are
we prepared for that death ? We cannot escape it. I knoAv you are
young and strong and stalwart, and defiant in many a mood. But, sir,
death will have you ! He will blanch your ruddy cheek, extinguish the
fire of your eye, and say to the heart. Stand still ! That is a fact, and
we ought to make some use of it. We are prepared for it or we are not
prepared. No man is prepared for it, according to the New Testament

176 The City Temple

teaching, but lie who is in Christ Jesus, the Son of God, the Saviour of
the world. If so be we are in Christ Jesus, then death is abolished, —
we have not to die in any sense of the term which degrades and terri-
fies us. We have to be transferred ; we have to put out our wings and
flee away ; we have to step over a trembling shadow. Christ hath
abolished death, and because our eye is on the far shining light of his
immortality, we shall not see death when it comes to us to tell us that
it is time to go home ! " Now is the accepted time, now is the day of
salvation." " Him that cometh unto me I will in no wise cast out." But
some poor trembling soul says, " Have I not read these words, ' Many
shall seek to enter in, and shall not be able ' ? " Yes. We read these
Avords in our lesson this morning ; but did you not observe the next verse,
which is the key and explanation to the. whole ? This verse : " When
once the Master of the house has riseu'.up and hath shut to the door," —
then many shall seek to enter in and shall not be able. But not till then.
Then they will say, "Lord, Lord !" And Christ will answer, "I never
knew you." What terrifies you, therefore, need be a terror no longer ;
because the door is open, the gate is open, the road is ready. Christ
waits to be gracious. But " the Sun of grace, once set, shall rise no
more." Speed thee, ere the door be shut !

The City Temple.

REPORT OF A DISCOURSE DELIVERED BY

JOSEPH PARKER,

In Poultry Chapel^ on Thursday Mornings May 4, 1871.

(the SKVENTV-EIGHTH NOONDAY SERVICE.)

CHRIST'S ENTRY INTO JERUSALEM.

" Saying unto them, Go into the village over apainst you, and straightway ye shall find
an ass tied, and a colt with her : loose them, and bring them unto me. And if any man say
ought unto you, ye shall say, The Lord hath need of them ; and straightway he will send
them." — St. Matthew, xxi., 2, 3.

STRANGE conjunction of words indeed is this, namely, —
Lord and 7iccd. Lord indicates supremacy, authority, sway.
Necessity is a beggar's word, not a lord's. But such is all
life. Every man has his need, the highest as well as the
Whosoever will come into human conditions ; whosoever will
socialise himself according to the laws of human organisation — whatso-
ever be his title, authority, supremacy — must, now and again, know the
meaning of fieed. It is well it should be so. It equalises men ; at
certain points at least it excites and consolidates the truest sympathies
of our nature ; it opens opportunities for the least to serve the greatest ;
it enables the greatest to stoop .with graceful condescension to accept an
offering of the weakest and lowest. Things are much better distributed
than we sometimes imagine. If a man be low and have next to nothing, —
what if he be not conscious of any capacity much beyond what he is ?

lowest.

178 The City Temple

And if a man have fine sensibilities and great capacities ; what if
he, by the power and faithfulness of love, can turn a few loaves and
one or two fishes into a great banquet, — what if he carry with him this
power of multiplication, which is always turning the little into the great
and causing the wilderness to blossom as a rose ?

The Lord hath need. There is but one Lord. That appears to be
a very simple statement, easy of credence. It is one of the most difficult
things in the world to believe that in the heart. Let a man have a con-
viction, intelligent, profound, unchangeable, that there is but one Lord,
and his life becomes elevated : he has law, he has light, he has a throne
in his life which is continually appealing to his loyalty and securing the
services of his affection. There are lords many, — nay, they are but lord-
lets ! There is but one Lord, one God, one Lawgiver. Hear, oh Israel,
let thy worship be conducted and regulated by the announcement, —
" The Lord our God is one Lord," so there may be no debate about
the direction of our Avorship, about the owner of our powers, about the
redeemer of our souls. See how this operates in practical life. The
disciples might naturally feel some little difficulty about going to take
another man's property ; so the Lord said unto them, " If any man say
ought unto you, ye shall say the Lord hath need of them, and straight-
way he will send them." But suppose there had been a thousand lords,
the question would have arisen, which of them ? But there is one Lord,
and his name is the key which opens every lock ; his name is the mighty
power which beats down every mountain and every wall, and makes the
rough places plain. What poetry there is here ! Why, this is the very
poetry of faith. It is not mere faith ; it is faith in flower, faith in blossom,
faith in victory ! And straightway, immediately, without misgiving or hesi-
tation, he will send them ! This must have incurred a very great risk.
No man likes to put himself into the hands of his inferiors in that way,
except he be urged thereto by the assurance that stooping is rising. No
man would like his servant to come back to him with his promise and
assurance, and say, "They have been despised and broken ; the man
will not send what you have desired."

We never live sublimely till we live in the poetry of faith, till our
faith becomes music and victory. This is the picture of a day which
has yet to dawn upon the world. The time will come when a word
will be enough ; if the word be the right word, it need not be multi-
plied. Its force is in its unity ; its victory is in its intensity and con-
centration. Is this possible, — that we shall have but to say to the poet,
when he has his harp in fullest sublimest tune, " The Lord hath need
of thee," and at once he will begin the praise of Emanuel? Is it
possible that the time will come when we shall need to say to the man
of money but one word, " The Lord hath need of thy gold," and the
coffers which have not seen the daylight for many a year will fly open
at the utterance of that simple word ? when we shall have but to go to
the young man of education and intellectual poAver and say, " The Lord
hath need of thee," and instantly he will spring to the front and say,
" Lord, speak, thy servant heareth." Is it possible that the time can
ever come when we shall have but to say to the daily newspaper, that
last of the atheists, " The Lord hath need of thee," and we shall have less

Christ's Entry into Jerusalem 179

of the drama and the racing-ground and the biUiard table, and a little
more at least of that which saves England from damnation and the highest
life of the world from putrefaction ? That will be the victory of victories !
I took up a newspaper this morning, and I found in small capitals,
and in a nice little corner, " British and Foreign Bible Society," and
perhaps a paragraph as long as the palm of your hand recording the
annual meeting of the Bible Society. I turn over to the leader page,
the best type in the production, and find full two columns about " the
Dorking coach." Aye, a Dorking coach against the Bible, certainly !
Yet that paper lives upon men who believe in the Bible, who uphold
great principles, and suffer disgrace and humiliation for their creed, —
yet they are to be snubbed and shelved in that way ! I looked into this
morning's paper for the report of a great conference which I was un-
able to attend, and the result of which I was the more anxious to learn,
called " The Liberation Society Conference," to which was added a
public meeting. I find a report to this effect : — That Mr. E. Miall,
M.P., — whoever that may be — addressed the meeting. That is all !
Two columns about the Dorking coach, and two columns about the '
drama, and a column or more about horse-racing. Is it right ? The
shame be theirs ! The Bible Society, the Missionary Society, and Pro-
testant Nonconformity will live and flourish — and so will all other
Christian institutions. Episcopalian and Congregational, which are good
and wise — when the Dorking coach has fallen to pieces. It will, then,
one day only be necessary to say, " The Lord hath need of thee,"
and straightway, with instancy, spontaneous;iess, and love, everything
will be given up to Him. Day of the Lord come quickly !

" All this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying,
Tell ye the daughter of Sion, Behold, thy King cometh unto thee, meek, and sitting upon an
ass, and a colt the foal of an ass." — 4, 5.

The fulfilment of minute prophecies. Not the fulfilment of sublime
predictions, so called ; but the fulfilment of little, specific, minute,
detailed prophecies. God does nothing unnecessarily, speaks nothing
that seems exaggeration or superabundance. There is a meaning in the
most delicate tint with which he hath varied any leaf; there is a signifi-
cance in the tiniest drop of dew which ever sphered itself in beauty on
the eyelids of the morning. And that Christ should go into Jerusalem ^
upon an ass, and a colt the foal of an ass ! That is not decorative talk ;
that is not mere flowery prophecy, or incidental or tributary foretelling.
In all that we should account little and of inconsequential moment is
fulfilled to the letter. What then ? If God be careful of such crumbs
of prophecy, such little detailed lines of prediction, what of the life of
his children, the redeemed life of his church ? If not one tittle could fall
to the ground respecting things of this kind — matters of order, arrange-
ment, sequence — is he unrighteous to forget the greater when he
remembers the less ? Will he count the hairs upon your head, and let >
the head itself be bruised ? Will he paint the grass, and let the man 1
fall to decay ? Is he careful about birds floating in the air, and careless >
about lives redeemed by the sacrificial blood of his Son ? The argu-
ment is an argument a fortiori. If he can do this for the little, what of

i8o The City Temple

the great ? If he can fulfil this testimony about the ass, and the colt the
foal of an ass, and the particular method of going into a city, what will
he do when he comes to the question of delivering the souls of his
children from captivity and saving the hearts of those who have put
their trust in him ? See ! Christian reader and Christian sufferer, man
often bent down to the dust by reason of heavy burdens : I find in this
care about the minutest lines of prophecy an assurance by implication
that they are infinitely safe who are in their Father's keeping.

" And a very great multitude spread their garments in the way ; others cut down
branches fiom the trees, and strawed them in the way, And the multitudes that went before,
Bnd that followed, cried, saying, Hosanna to the Son of David : Blessed is he that cometh in
the name of the Lord ; Hosanna in the highest." — 8, 9.

What is your religion if it have no enthusiasm in it ? Who wants a
wooden Christianity or a logical Christianity only ? Christianity loses
its power when it loses its pathos. Every religion goes downward when
it loses the power of exciting the highest, most intelligent, and most
courageous enthusiasm. Some of us have need to be cautioned against
decorum. Alas ! there are some christian professors who do not
know what it is to have a moment of transport and ecstasy, unutterable
emotion, — ^who never, never go away upon the wings of light and hope,
but are always standing, almost shivering, — eating up their dry logic,
and never knowing where the blossom, the poetry, and the. ecstacy may
be found.

I heard not long ago of a minister who sustained a serious loss.
Observe, a serious loss. I suppose in a moment of excitement — yet
such a man ought not to know much about uncontrollable excitement,
seeing that he reads his sermons— he uttered in tlie pulpit the word
" bully," and the same evening a serious family took hymn-books and
cushions away. It was a serious loss ! But there are some men — I don't
know how far they are to be blamed — who never feel a rush of blood to
their cheeks, whose hearts never did beat double life, and who are ne^•er
in the fullest and the highest emotion. It is a mercy that they have
common sense enough left to take the cushions away. If that grain of
common sense were taken away from them, truly they would be a
burden to the church. Christianity should excite our emotion and make
us sometimes talk rapturously, and give us, sometimes at least, moments
of inspiration, self-deliverance, and victory. It was so in the case before
us. The whole city was moved. There was passion, there was excite-
ment on every hand.

But, then, am I advocating nothing but emotion, sensibility, enthusi-
asm? Far from it. First of all, let there be intelligent apprehension,
and profound conviction respecting truth. Let us see that our foundations,
theological and ethical, are deep, broad, immovable. Then let us carry
up the building until [it breaks out into glittering points, far-flashing
pinnacles, and becomes broken into beauty. You, young man, how
is it with you ? I do not like to see an old man at five-and-twenty.
I don't like to hear a preacher only five-and-twenty talk as if he
were seventy-five. I like the young preacher to be young ; to be
talking sometimes perhaps about glittering stars, meandering rills, and
nobody knows what. All that will be taken out of him in the course

Christ's Entry into Jerusalem i8i

of twenty years. In tHe meantime, I do like to see the young
man capable of taking fire, and saying some things that cold critics '
would look upon very disparagingly. Always let me be understood as
advocating, under all this, seriousness of conviction, clear apprehension
of truth. Then as to the expression of that truth, I would allow you
oftentimes the liberty some critics might consider license.

" And Jesus went into the temple of God, and cast out all them that sold and bought in
the temple, and overthrew the tables of the money-changers, and the seats of them that sold
doves, and said unto them, It is written, My house shall be called the house of prayer ; but ye
have made it a den of thieves." — 12, 13.

He is not carried away by popular enthusiasm. He does not
live on popular applause. After all this he comes to what is right, the
spirit of indignation burns within him when he sees any prostitution of
sacred things. It is a perilous thing for some men to be applauded.
Popular admiration is to some men a snare. Loud resounding applause
may upset their balance, destroy their equilibrium, and lead them to
cater for the people who have applauded them. But Jesus Christ steps
out of all this thunder, goes into the temple, and at once proceeds
to destruction, assertion of right, and a vindication of great principle.
What he might have done ! He might have said, " Well, this temple
will one day, and that day not far distant, be thrown down. I shall not
interfere with this abuse now, because in the natural order of things it
will be overturned along with this structure." Jesus Christ did not know
what it was to trifle so. I don't know that Jesus Christ knew the mean-
ing of the word expediency, as we sometimes prostitute it. He saw
wrong. If that wrong would in five minutes work itself out, that was no
consideration to him. Meanwhile, to him five minutes was eternity !

The wrong was not a cutaneous stain ; it was an insult to God, a
defiance of the Most High. We shall never get through life truly,
grandly, worthily of our profession, till we take our stand upon simple
right, and do it in God's spirit and in God's fear. They were sacred
places, you say, to Jesus Christ. I believe there are men who could
trifle with places which are known to most of us as sacred resorts. I
have seen men who could come into church and walk half way up the
aisles with their hats on their heads. I have seen persons who felt
themselves perfectly at home — that is, as much at home as they could
feel themselves anywhere — in a sanctuary as they would upon a public
common. I do not urge a superstitious reverence for any place ; but
there ought to be a distinction between superstitious reverence and
flippant olf-handed treatment. Somewhere there ought to be sobriety,
veneration, self control. This house is made holy, not by any form or
words devised by man, — but the holy quiet, the holy hymn, the cry of
prayer, the exposition of God's book, separates such places as these
from the common world, and makes them emphatically houses of
prayer. How this veneration is utilised will be seen in the very next
verse : —

" And the blind and the lame came to him in the temple ; and he healed them." — 14,

See what his veneration was ! He had just declared, " My house
shall be called the house of prayer." The blind and the lame came to

1 82 The City Temple

him in the temple and he healed them. Prayer is not an exclusive
term, when the deepest needs of human nature are in question. Prayer
is an inclusive term. It includes philanthropic service, educational
service, missionary work, feeding the hungry, giving water to the thirsty,
showing the blind the right way, and breaking the bread of life to the
hungry hearts of sinners. We might make more use of the temple than
we do. As the minister of this house, I should like to make far more
use of it than we do. The idea of locking the doors almost six days
out of seven, and opening them for only three hours on the Sabbath,
seems to involve a great loss of property which might be turned to the
highest account. As we are situated in the heart of the Metropolis of
England, I should open the door all day long and all week through. I
should knock down all this wood-work, and have a fountain of water in
tbe very midst of the building, — forms and tables throughout with
Bibles laid upon them. Men might be at liberty to come in here any
hour of the day, to read the scriptures, rest themselves, to secure half an
hour's quietness amid the din and bustle and tumult of the noisy city.
Then, three or four times a week I should have a minister of the gospel
who, in a few clear, simple, manly sentences, should declare that just
outside time there is a world called Eternity, and the only true entrance
into that invisible world is across Golgotha, where Jesus Christ, Son of
God, tasted death for every man. I should call that making use of a
chapel. It would save building, save money, save anxiety, and at least
ofifer an opportunity to men to recover their strength and their spirits,
and to get some hint amid all this bread-getting, that there is bread
which endureth unto everlasting life.

" And when the chief priests and icribes saw the wonderful things that he did, and the
children crying in the temple, and saying, Hosanna to the Son of David ; they were sore dis-
pleased, and said unto him, Hearest thou what these say? And Jesus saith unto them. Yea;
have ye never read, Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings thou hast perfected praise ^ " —
15, 16.

The children crying in the temple, " Hosanna to the Son of David,"
sorely displeased the chief priests and the scribes. I dare say they never

I were children themselves. Some men never were born. I don't know
how they came into the world ; all you can say about them is what you
can say about a walking-stick, — there it is. Children in the temple —
children taking part in the service ! The scribes and chief priests thought

' the children could not understand it. What a miserable mistake we
make about this understanding things. Why, it is not necessary to
understand everything intellectually, and to be able to give reasons in
logical order for all that we are and for all that we do. Children under-
stand by feeling, by the heart, a good many more things than they can
explain. So it is with what are called poor uneducated hearers of the
gospel. I dare say there are men — at least there were, I believe — who
thought that if they expended all their strength upon their sermons the
people would not understand them, so they just treated them to anything
that came to hand ; and the people left them. Then they said that they
were not appreciated ! I believe uneducated hearers do understand the

' very highest ministry, — the ministry that has light in it, and pathos, and
sublimity; and the children's heart-understanding brings them to the house

Christ's Entry into Jerusalem 183

of God whenever there is present a man who can any way get at them,
excite their Httle hearts, rouse their tender feehngs, and make them glad.
The child does not understand, then, about baptism ? No. I believe
that is perfectly true as to understanding. What is it I baptize when the
little child is brought to me ? Do I baptize something that is only six ,
weeks old ? No. I baptize human life ; it is the life I baptize, and
not the register of birth ! I am not here as an insurance agent, but as a
christian minister ; and as soon as I can get hold of human life, I
baptize it in the great threefold Name that makes all other names
names of life.

Jesus Christ did hear them. The chief priests and scribes thought
that perhaps he did not hear the children. They said unto Him,
" Hearest thou what these say ?" And Jesus Christ said, " Yes, I hear
it — every tone of it, every pulse of it — I hear it all." Then he turned
upon them this enquiry, which was humiliating because they were priests
and scribes, "Have ye never read? If you are not readers you are
nothing, — it is your business to read. Have ye never read that out of
the mouth of babes and sucklings thou hast perfected praise ? " How <
Jesus Christ read the prophecies ! They were quite new things when
he read them. Nothing is so difficult to do, I think, as correctly
to read something which somebody else has written. Therefore,
I always say to friends, " Never write a letter if you can help
it, because nobody can read it." I have written letters to people,
and they have been offended with them, and they have not spoken
to me for six weeks, — perhaps gone on the other side of the street, —
and I have not known how to account for it. It has come to pass
that I have written them a letter which has given them great offence.
" Let me see the letter." I read the letter to them, and it is a new
letter ! They did not read it so ; they had missed their stops, and mis-
placed the emphasis. They did say every word that was in the letter,
but not as the writer intended the words to be said. Herein is the glory
of preaching over writing, — that every man by his very tone is an inter-
preter, and by his very accent is a revealer, of divine things. There is
this difference between Jesus Christ's reading of the prophecies and
other peoples' reading. Other people read them as scholars ; read them
with the help, it may be, of lexicon or grammar ; read them as literary
exercises. But when Jesus Christ read them, he read them as if he
himself had written them !

I am sorry I cannot proceed further to-day with questions for
self-examination. Christ entered into the city. Has he come to our '
poor hearts.^ Jesus Christ turned out the money-changers and those
that bought and sold doves. Has he expelled the worldly principle
from the temple of our spirits? Jesus Christ was hailed with enthusiasm.
Have we received him with tenderness and emotion and transport
of love ? Jesus Christ interpreted the prophecies. Are we accepting
his interpretation or forming meanings of our own ? These questions
I must leave. May they be remembered and applied by some !

184 'i^f^^ City Temple

Oh, Thou who art merciful and gracious, full of compassion and
long-suffering and tenderness. Thou art kind to the unthankful and to
the evil ! We hasten to Thee with our offering of praise, inasmuch as
Thou hast crowned our life with loving kindness and tender mercy and
made it beautiful with continual love. We praise Thee ; we magnify
Thee ; we offer Thee the whole strength of our heart. We hasten to
Thee as men who have been mocked by the promises of the world, and
who long to find satisfaction in Thy infinite and unspeakable peace.
We have been disappointed. The staff has been broken in our hand
and pierced us. We mistook the scorpion for an egg. We have hewn
unto ourselves cisterns ; they are broken cisterns, which can hold no
water. Foiled, smitten, wounded, humiliated, and disgraced, we come
into Thy presence, knowing that in God, as revealed in the person and
doctrine of Jesus Christ and made known unto us by the ministry of the
Holy Ghost, we can find rest which our souls could not find elsewhere.
All our springs are in Thee. Thou givest us what we need. They who
are in Thy presence, who live in Thy light, and Thy love, hunger no
more, neither thirst any more, neither are subjected to weariness or
decay. We would live in God. We would have our being in the Eternal.
We would know nothing among men but Jesus, and him crucified ; and
by the mystery of pain and the mystery of love, symbolised by Christ's
Cross, we would endure the trials of the world, and discharge the whole
service of life. Meet us as sinners, and pardon us ! " The blood of
Jesus Christ, Thy Son, cleanseth from all sin." May we know its
cleansing, healing power ! We have done the things we ought not to
have done ; we have withheld the testimony which it became us to
deliver ; we have often been timid and unfaithful 3 we have hesitated
when we ought to have gone forward ; we have compromised where we
ought to have died ; we have become self-seekers where we ought to
have sought the crown of martyrdom ; we have kept an unjust balance
and an untrue weight ; our measure has been false ; our word has been
untrue ; our spirit has been worldly ; our very prayers have been selfish.
All this we say when we truly know ourselves, as we are revealed to
ourselves by the in-dwelling, all-disclosing Spirit. " God be merciful
unto us sinners," and cleanse us from all unrighteousness ! Give us the
hearing ear, and the understanding heart, the obedient will, the ever-
industrious hand in the service of Jesus Christ. When we have done our
best to serve our day and generation, and the time of reckoning has
come, may we find all our worth in the worthiness of the Lamb, and be
accounted fit to sit with Him on His throne, because in our degree we
have shared the pain and shame of His Crucifixion ! Amen.

The City Temple.

REPORT OF A DISCOURSE DELIVERED BY

JOSEPH PARKER,

In Poultry Chapel, on Thursday Morning, May ii, 1871.

(the seventy-ninth noonday service.)

THE CONVICTION OF SIN.

" And when he is come he will reprove the world of sin." — John, xvi., 8.

HEN He that is the sphit of truth is come, He will reprove,
He will convince the world of sin. He will show the sinful-
ness of sin ; he will work in every sinnefs heart the torment
of self-conviction. He will accuse the world of sin, and will
prove the accusation. The work of the Holy Ghost, in reference to
sin, is first a work of revelation and then a work of conviction. He
will show sin to the sinner, — show it until the sinner is startled,
ashamed, self-pierced, self-condemned. The Holy Ghost will reveal the
unholy man. The revelation of sin is distinctly and specially a spiritual

1 86 Tfie City Temple

act. It can be done completely, with all necessary clearness and
terribleness, only by a Ghost, and only by a Ghost that is Holy, and
only by a holiness that is perfect as God. The Ghost of God sees
things as they are ; sees essences, realities, hidden tendencies, remote
possibilities ; sees the soul in its nakedness, and knows the thought ot
man afar off. When that Ghost comes into any heart, he will reprove,
convince that heart of sin.

Let us try to work our way to some approximate idea at least of
the intensity and agony of that conviction. Take the case of a man
who is reeling in the streets under the influence of intoxication. That
man does not require the Holy Ghost to convince him of sin. There
is no common man on the road side that would not instantly turn upon
him and say, " That is a sinner." No ghost is needed to make such a
revelation. Every child, seeing the reeling man coming near, will in-
stantly feel that he is in the presence of a sinner. God is not required
to come down to the earth and say to the drunkard in his drunkenness,
" You are a sinner ;" to the blasphemer in the madness of his profanity,
" You are a sinner f to the adulterer in his uncleanness, " You are a
sinner." All these things are known by the common morality, the non-
christian instinct which is in every man, and which teaches him to
distinguish — though not always minutely and spiritually — between right
and wrong.

Let us dismiss all those foul and vicious characters whose moral
nature is plainly written on their foreheads, and look in the next place
at a person of the utmost social respectability. Examine his conduct
from week to week in the market-place, and there is not a man Avho
comes in contact with him who can justly bring any charge against his
behaviour. The man is diligent in business, punctual in his appoint-
ments, straightforward in all his dealings ; a man who, by the continu-
ousness of his probity, has earned for himself a position of confidence
in the commercial world ; his speech is the speech of an honourable
man, so far as all the affairs of this world are concerned, and so far as
his intercourse on matters of business is concerned. He is a member
of a christian church ; he sometimes engages in prayer ; he contributes
to charitable objects. Altogether, I repeat, he is a man of the utmost
social respectability. What is required to convince that man of the
real state of his heart ? A ghost ! If you and I were to speak to him,
taking cognisance of his character, he might resent the intrusion, and
dare comparison of our own life with his daily conduct and behaviour. The
Holy Ghost enters him, and finds in him a faint trace of lust, evil desire,
having reference to some forbidden object or other. The man never
named it, never confessed it to himself, never ventured to whisper it in
the most subdued breath. But there it is, in the depths of his nature ;
and the Ghost of God works upon that, reveals it, develops it, shows
what it really is, expands it in all its horribleness, — until the man whose
outward character was irreproachable, whose behaviour could challenge
comparison with the average behaviour of the world, trembles, burns
under the influence of an internal fire, and dare hardly fall down upon
his knees to ask God to forgive an enormity so great ! He never would
have known what that faint, hardly describable vein of evil desire was

The Convict wi of Sin 1B7

but for the ministry of the Holy Ghost. He would shrink from the pre-
sence of an unclean person ; he would denounce in the most emphatic
terms the irregularities of the drunkard ; he would shudder when he
heard the profanities of the blasphemer. But the Ghost of God cut
him in twain, and pierced even to the dividing asunder of all within him
that was secret and most compact, and took up this vein and said,
" That is you ! " until a speck became a mountain, until a single speck,
an atomic, microscopic speck — nay, such a microscopic speck as the
eye of God alone could discern — grew into proportions overshadowing
and overwhelming. And the man, outwardly so respected, praying in
prayer meetings and giving to charities, cried out, " Oh, wretched man
that I am ! who shall deliver me from the body of this death ? " No
man can come to that experience — can know anything at all about it in
its torment, in its killing agony — until the Holy Ghost has been at work
upon his heart.

Here is a man who is equally respectable — a man of excellent
standing, a man against whom nobody can utter a single reproach
justly, a man equally honourable and upright and straightforward with
the man whom we have just delineated. The Holy Ghost comes into
him and shows in him a secret, subtle, unexpressed selfishness, in ways
that the world cannot take note of Remote acts of selfishness ? Nay,
not acts ; when it comes to acts then anybody can sit in judgment upon
them. But thoughts of selfishness, — little, tormenting, urging, impor-
tuning dreams of selfishness,— something between a thought and a
thing, trembling, hovering in that border-land, — sometimes almost per-
sonifying itself, then shrinking back again into impalpability ! The
Holy Ghost shows him what he would be under certain circumstances,
if certain fears could be taken away, if certain possibilities could be
set aside, — all that unspeakable atmospheric spiritual pressure which
never can be defined and only can be felt. And when he sees the thing
in its reality, as illuminated and expanded by God the Holy Ghost, all
his cry is, " God be merciful to me a sinner ! Nobody thinks me a
sinner. I can walk up the main aisle of the church to-morrow and there
would be subdued applause at my presence. Many a man would speak
well of me if called to testify in open court concerning my standing.
But oh ! Thou God the Holy Ghost — thou piercing, cleaving Spirit —
thou hast shown in me one hidden vein that I never knew of, and I see
it in the blaze of Thy fire ! God be merciful to me a sinner ! "

The great difficulty in conducting spiritual education in our own
hearts, and in the hearts of those who wait upon our ministry, is this :
To see the difference between sin and phases of sin ; between wicked-
ness in the heart, in the thought, unexpressed and unconfessed to
ourselves, and the mere accidents of wickedness which relate to time,
place, or form. There is not one in this house who would not condemn
worldliness of spirit, so called ; condemn, perhaps, certain amusements
which other people accept with all innocence and with legitimate enjoy-
ment. There are men who say the church is fast becoming like the
world ; men who will not play at this game, or go to that amusement,
or sit in this society, or identify themselves with yonder movement,
because they suppose that all these things savour more or less of world-

1 88 The City Temple

liness. Very well. One of these men who is so unworldly and so
exemplary shall be heard in his tea-table talk. He says unkind words
about his neighbour ; slanders his minister ; is a sneak when sneaking
will win him what he calls success ; he is a traitor when treachery will
bring him thirty pieces of silver, more or less ; there is no meanness he
would not stoop to ; there is no length of censure and censoriousness
to which he Avill not go. Yet that man condemns another who rides on
a fine horse and goes to find some of his amusement in a painted house !
What is required to show the man what he really is ? The Ghost of
God, to show him that an unkind whisper may be murder ; that a shrug
of the shoulder may be incipient assassination ; to take him by the
heart, and condemn him in the sight of God, for a villainy too refined
for common morality and too subtle to be taken note of by any of the
magisterial tribunals of the land ! Only the Holy Ghost can pierce a
man with such reflections and convictions as these. It is not the pro-
fane oath, it is the profane heart ; it is not the open, overt, deadly deed,
it is the feeling of needless, exaggerated, unrighteous anger ; it is not
the hand wet with blood, it is the spirit that longs for some measure of
revenge and some degi-ee of retaliation. It is when we get into these
essences of thought that the Holy Ghost alone can be our perfect
teacher, showing us what sin is without its accidents of time, place, and
form, — the wickedness of sin in the sight of the holiness of God.

Here is another man who gravely shakes his head at the idea of
half-a-dozen shops being opened on Sunday, and he shakes his head in
in a cab. A nice place to shake his head in at what is called desecra-
tion of the Lord's Day ! He has a httle four-wheeled shop of his OAvn,
and shakes his head at the greengrocer who is trying to sell a few
cabbages and cauliflowers and other vegetables. " We compound for sins
we are inclined to by damning those we have no mind to." We want
the Holy Ghost to get into that man's cab to talk to him the language
oi God. Far be it from me to lay down the doctrine that it may not be
necessary for a man to ride mile after mile on the Lord's Day. But if
a man is on the one hand so critical about other people's observance
of the Sabbath, he ought to be visited with his own reasoning and
chastised with his own rod.

We have to guard against seeing the sinfulness of other people
without seeing the beam that is in our own eye. We need the Holy
Ghost to talk to us on these matters. We are so sensitive in some
particulars, we shudder so revoltingly in the presence of certain forms
of sin, without perhaps feeling that sin, if it never took form at all or
was never heard in speech at all, is as hateful in the sight of God as if it
came out in the blaze of day and defied the judgment of nations. The
religion of Christ is spiritual, the religion of Christ is intense, the word
of God searches the heart and tries the reins of the children of men.
Who then can be saved ? If the blink of an eye may mean profanity,
uncleanness, rebellion against law, determination of secret enjoyment of
sin ; if the holding up of a finger be in God's estimation, under some
circumstances, terrible as the drawing out of a sword and the defiance

The Conviction of Sin 189

of the Most High ; if he searches our thoughts, if he reveals the secrets
of our hearts, — who then can be saved ? " I never oppressed the poor;
but I once had a thought which must have broken the heart of God.
I never uttered a profane word ; but once I gave a look that was
blasphemy ! I have prayed long vehement prayers ; in my heart I have
had desires I dare not name to woman, priest, or God." If a man's
experience be anything like that, and that experience be illuminated
by the Holy Ghost, and forced back again upon the man, — oh !
how terrible the accusation, — how heart-breaking ! Who then can be
saved ?

Now, if this doctrine be laid down, and in the heart be deeply and
intensely realised, four consequences will follow. All attempts to
establish hfe upon a basis of mere morality will be abandoned.
Morality is impossible apart from theology. Theology is impossible
apart from the direct spiritual continuous teaching of God the Holy
Ghost. You say, " I challenge you to criticise my deeds." I reply,
" Sir, it is not first and last a question of deeds : it is a question of
motive, intent, impulse, secret desire." " Have not I given fifty pounds
to this charity ? " You have with your hand, but not a penny with
your heart : it is what is given with the heart God accepts. " Have
not I prayed often and long ? " Yes ; but never a word went beyond
the roof under which you uttered your empty mocking words, because
whilst your lips Avere eloquent your heart was dumb. The Lord seeth
not as man seeth. Man looketh on the outward appearance ; the Lord
looketh on the heart. Where, then, is our morality ? which, being
interpreted, is our system of manners, our way — often, indeed, a skilful
and artistic way — of putting our life into certain angles and showing
it under given lights. Morality is often but an eftort of art.
Morality is often a study of the way of putting things. But the sincere
man — the man who lives in the tabernacle and sanctuary of God — never
says, " How will this look ? " His life gushes out of him into activity
and form and service ; and knowing that his spirit and motive are right,
he says, " It is a small thing to be judged of man's judgment."

Some of us have taken a long time to be persuaded that our moral-
ity is less than nothing and vanity, — our chief sin. Not until we get rid
of our morality can we be made moral. It is that overweening conceit
about our own nice way of doing things that keeps us back from the Cross
of Christ, from the mystery of the Atonement. " If the light that is in
us be darkness, how great is that darkness." If our very morality be
our curse, how ponderous is the millstone which will drag us into the
depths of the sea ! Not until a man comes without price in his hand,
without self-hope in his heart, without self-praise in his mind and says,
*' God be merciful to me a sinner," can he ever know how worthless is
his own morality, how despicable and vain are his noblest deeds.

" In my hand no price I bring,
Simply to Thy Cross I cling."

The man confesses himself a sinner — not much of a sinner, not

1 90 The City Tempk

a sinner in certain lights and in certain degrees, not a sinner hardly so
sinful as other people — but a sinner ! Vast in its concentration is that
confession. Overwhelming is that utterance in its very simplicity.
When men feel themselves to be what the Spirit of God describes them
as being, they want no epithet, no adjective, no quantifying term to
define their position. A sinner says more in its simplicity and concen-
tration than could be said by the minutest elaboration of speech.

Where the true idea of sin is reahsed under the ministry of God the
Holy Ghost, the necessity of the sacrificial work of Jesus Christ will be
understood, realised, and will form the one foundation of human hope.
I have much to say on this point and I cannot say it. For years
the idea has been floating before my mind, and I have found no words
to speak it to others ; but it is the stay of my life, it is the strength of
my ministry, it is the secret of any earnestness I may feel in preaching
the everlasting gospel, namely this : The Atonement I do not receive
merely as a grammarian, logician, metaphysician, theologian. I cannot
understand that Cross — great, rugged, melancholy Cross — if I look at it
only from the eminence occupied by the scholar, the philosopher, the
theologian. But when I feel myself in my heart of hearts a smner, a
trespasser of God's law and God's love ; when I feel that a thought may
damn me to everlasting destruction, that a secret unexpressed desire
may shut me out of heaven and make me glad to go to hell to be out of
the way of God's shining face, — then some man tells me that Jesus
Christ was wounded for my transgressions, bruised for my iniquities, that
the chastisment of my peace was laid upon him ; and I, pressing my
way through all the grammarians, logicians, philosophers, theologians,
say, " If I perish I will pray, and perish only at the foot of the
Cross ; for if this be not sufficient, it hath not entered into the heart of
man to solve the problem of human depravity and human consciousness
of sin."

The sinner does not ask for explanation — minute, critical, and
technical — when he comes into that state of heart before the dear bleeding
Christ. He leaves all questions of criticism, technical and formal
theology, to be settled by and by. In the meantime he feels this : — That
if the blood of the Son of God cannot reach those secret sins, those un-
expressed desires, then no river that flows through the earth can wash
him clean, no detergent discovered by industrious morality can ever
take out of him the deep stain and taint ! Sometimes we look
at the work of the Lamb of God without feeling that we are sinners.
Then we have a thousand difficult questions to put about it. At other
times the burden of our sin is so heavy upon us, we see the sinfulness of
sin so clearly, we get aw^ay so entirely from all mere accident of time,
place, and shape, so far as they relate to sin, — we see sin as God saw it
and as God ever must see it, then we say, " Oh Lamb of God, Thou
didst not shed one drop too much of Thy precious blood, Thou didst
not endure one needless pang ! We see sin now in some measure as
Thou didst see it. We understand what Thou meanest when Thou
sayest, ' My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death.' We know
what is meant by the glorious gospel that Jesus Christ came into the
world to save sinners !"

The Conviction of Sin 191

If I might speak to brethren in the ministry, students of letters,
grammars, philosophers, theorists, and speculators, I would venture to
say, that there is much in such studies that may be fruitful of good ; they
are not to be contemned and passed by as utterly valueless. At the
same time we ourselves as preachers cannot understand the Cross of
Christ till we understand ourselves as sinners. No man can be led
to the Cross by the hand of mere philosophy. He must go up i>.e
dolorous way, with his eyes blinded with penitential tears, his heart
choked and suffocated by inexpressible emotion, then there will be a
writing above the superscription of Pilate, " This is the Son of God ;
whoso cometh unto me I will in no wise cast out."

Wherever this view of sin is truly realised and received in all its
simplicity, an intense earnestness for the world's salvation will be
excited. Do you ask, " Are the Chinese not happy without your
gospel ? " I say, Probably they are happy without the gospel, so far
as they understand happiness. " Are the people of India not rich and
prosperous without the gospel ? " Probably they are. Why should you
go and break up households and separate the father from the son and
the mother from the daughter and the daughter-in-law from the mother-
in-law ? Why should you send fire upon the earth and a sword through
the nations of mankind } I tell you, because of what the Holy
Ghost has taught us about sin. It is not a question of civilisation, of a
gilded surface, of a material prosperity and of a so-called social happiness.
If the Holy Ghost has correctly revealed to us the nature of sin, then
I must go, I cannot rest until I have taught other people what has been
communicated to me of the spiritual, not of a terrible enormity, not of
a bloody deed, not of an outspoken blasphemer, but of secret thoughts
and unexpressed desires which are foreign to the nature of God.

This is the secret of our missionary enterprise, — this is the inspira-
tion of our moral service. If it were a question of this world only, let
the Chinese alone ! They enjoy themselves after a certain fashion ;
they have their own notions of civilisation and success. Don't trouble
them. The same with Africa and India ; the same with the most dis-
tant portions of the globe. Let them alone ! But when we know,
by the teaching of the Holy Ghost, what sin is, a responsibility
comes along with the revelation ; and in proportion as we realise it,
that responsibility will never tire of breaking up households if need
be, of sending a sword into families and kindling fires upon the
earth !

Then, last of all, if we had truly spiritual notions about sin, we
should regard one another with a gentler charity. You don't sin as I
sin. Shall I therefore vehemently condemn you, and seek a character
for my own morality by the urgency and impetuosity of my condemna-
tion of your particular sin ? I don't do as you do when you criticise
worldliness, but I may speak an unkind word about a brother minister.
I will not speak an unkind word about a brother minister, but
I may stoop to any ignoble deed in order to realise my own
schemes. I will not stoop to any sneaking, underhand method of doing
things J but I may never forgive an enemy, I may pursue him to the

igl The Chy Temple

death, and half a century after the deed my anger shall burn as on the
first day. Is it so with us ? You would not go to a theatre, but
you are vain as a peacock. I am not vain, but I will do things in
secret that I would not like my dearest, truest, earthly friend to know.
So it is, sirs. We must get to know what sin is, not the accident of sin!
We must not be vehement about the accident when we are compara-
tively indifferent about the essence. When we feel sin to be what it is,
our mouths will be shut ; there will never be an hour of unkind judg-
ment in our whole lives ; we will all be in the same condemnation.
Who art thou that speakest against another man ? will be a sore ques-
tion that will pierce us and cut us in two whenever words censorious
and slanderous shall rise to our lips.

May God the Holy Ghost show us sin until we hate it, — show us
the reality of sin until we feel our need of the Cross ! May he show us
the fulness of the love of Christ, until we know what is meant by
Christ's ability to take up our sin, our secret sin, — take it up in
His pierced bleeding hands and cast it away for ever, and present
us unto Himself a glorious Church ! This is a great mystery, but
in Christ all such mysteries are solved. He is, in very deed, the
Light of the World !

TO MINISTERIAL STUDENTS.

The attention of Students in Colleges of all denominations is respectfully
invited to the following announcement.

On Thursday, May 25th, 187 1, Dr. Parker will be at the Poultry
Chapel at two o'clock, for the purpose of inaugurating an Institute of
Homiletics. It is his intention to offer, from time to time, brief remarks
upon pulpit work generally, to invite inquiry and discussion on the part
of Students, and to encourage conversational criticism upon outlines of
sermons, composition, pronunciation, reading, and other exercises which
the Students will be expected to submit. The object of this Institute is
to supply a common meeting ground for Students of all denominations,
and to realise such advantages as an unsectarian interchange of opinion
may be expected to afford.

Students who intend to be present at the first meeting will oblige
by sending their names to Dr. Parker, Poultry Chapel, as soon as
convenient.

No expense will be incurred by Students,

T^he City Temple.

REPORT OF A DISCOURSE DELIVERED BY

JOSEPH PARKER,

In Poultry Chapel ^ on Thursday Morning, May i8, 1871.

(the eightieth noonday service.)

ENQUIRY FOR GODS.

" Where are the gods of Hamath and Arphad ? where are the gods of Sepharvaim ? " —

Isaiah, xxxvi., 19.

HESE enquiries may by a slight accommodation be used as
showing some characteristics of false gods, and showing,
by implication, the glory and worship which are due to the
one living Lord. Men have a distinct right to enquire
for their gods. Almighty God himself does not shrink from this test of
personality and nearness. He will he enquired of. He has proclaimed
himself accessible. " Come, now, let us reason together." " Call upon
me in the day of trouble." " Seek ye the Lord while he may be found."
" Draw nigh unto him and he will draw nigh unto you." " Prove me
now herewith, saith the Lord." All these passages show that God is
within reach of the heart of man ; and that religion, as well as bringing
with it a divine fear, brings with it also a divine companionship. Men
cannot live on mere sublimity. Tell a man that there is a being seated
above the stars mighty and glorious — yea, who is terrible in strength,

194 The City Temple

and dazzling in splendour — and you have told liim nothing worth hear-
ing. Your statement is void by generality. God is all that. But to
be all that, so that it may have any good effect upon man, He must be
less than that. Upon the sphere of His infinitude there must be
points of love. Man cannot get hold of infinitude. He must have
something that he can lay the hands of his heart upon. God must give
miniatures of himself, which little children even can put away in the
hiding-places of their love as their chief jewels. Whilst a god may be
too great, he may also be too small. He may be too great to be
available for common daily use and defence. If you want to pass
through a toll-bar, and have nothing but a thousand pound note
for tlie payment, you are, so far as that toll-bar is concerned,
as badly oft as the beggar who has not a penny. A man may
die of thirst even amid the billows of the Atlantic. If our god be
therefore merely a distant sublimity, a bewildering dream, a creation
of poetry, he is no god to us ; and one day we shall be taunted
by the mocking question, " Where is thy god, O worshipper of the
golden mists ? " What is a man's god ? A man's god is whatever is
the supreme object of his admiration and trust. It maybe beauty, it
may be strength, it may be money, it may be fame, it may be self-right-
eousness, it may be self-confidence. Now the one principle which it is
proposed to illuminate and apply this morning is, that there are times in
life when a man instinctively or by force enquires for his god ; and that
he who cannot, in such critical hours, find his god, has made the pro-
foundest and saddest spiritual mistake in the bestowment of his affections
and the gift of his trust. Whilst we give ourselves to this topic, may
the Most High God be present with us as we never felt him to be
present before, so that the sigh of the heart may reach him and the
whisper of our love may be distinct in his ear as the voice of thunder !
Amen, amen !

There are times when you are dissatisfied with yourself; when you
feel your utter nothingness ; exhaustion, not to say insufficiency, but
entire vanity and self-vexation. Take a season of utter prostration, of
physical pain, of bodily decay, when the strong man is withered, when
the strength we used to boast of is strong no longer, and we are afraid
of that which is high. At such a time we look out for something
greater than ourselves. We put to ourselves these enquiries : — Do all
things waste away as our strength has done .-* Is our weakness the
measure of all other power ? Is there no one who can meet us in this
extremity of feebleness, — who can come down to us, not in the thunder
of his great povver, but in the condescension ot his almightiness ? Is
there no one who has learned how to come near a weak man without
shattering him by the breath of his power ? The weak man does not
not want mere power to come to him. He wants graduated power, —
power that is in the hands of mercy, power that can adapt itself to the
weakness and infirmity of human conditions. It is when we can only
speak in sighs, and reason in whispers, that our heart goes out in a
piercing, urgent enquiry. Where is the god on whom I once did rest
the whole pressure of my life, in whom I did place all the trust of my
love ?

Enquiry for Gods 195

Look at a time of commercial panic, business distress, when no
man knows whom to trust ; when a smile upon the countenance may be
but the signal of intended treachery ; when the greatest houses are
crumbling at their foundations ; when things which were of value
yesterday are of no value at all this morning ; when men's hearts
are quaking because of the fear that they dare not touch their
own fortune lest it should prove itself to be gilded nothing-
ness,— when they are afraid that the very glance of an eye will
pierce their possessions as lightning might and utterly wither them
away. Man cannot be satisfied then without the supernatural ; he may
even drift into superstition. But into the invisible he will go, if so be
he be not an utter beast, and have not lost his power of reasoning and
his power of hope in the mammon worship of a misdirected life. I
have known atheists pray when they have been in extreme pain or
peril. Atheists ! men who would say, when the sun was clear and
there was blue sky enough for their heart's content, that there was no
God. I have known such wretches, tripped up by cellar-grating, pray
for their legs, and cry out for God to have mercy upon them. Oh,
wretched theologians !

There are times when all men either come quietly, with reverence
and tenderness, to seek God who has gone away for a moment, or when
they are startled, frightened into momentary devotion. Anyhow, the
great principle is affirmed in daily experience, that men do enquire for
their gods when the times are heavy against them and there is some
special sore cankering and consuming their hearts. Man likes to make
gods ; he is fond of god-making. What sort of gods does he make ?
Dare I say this ? You will tell me, when I have said it, that it is but a
common-place in human history. Alas, sirs ! I am afraid when we con-
sider some things to be common-place, we consider we have explained
them and defended them. A thing is not right because it is common-
place. Familiarity is no vindication of vice. Because we have been
long accustomed to a theory or practice, the theory or practice is not
therefore unimpeachable, right and true as before God. May I say
this ? Some men — without perhaps intending it, and who would
shrink from this bald way of stating what they have done — have made
money their God. You thought I was going to say something more
startling than that, did you not ? The time will come when common-places
will startle men ; when the mud they have trodden under their feet, and
by treading it have buried great principles and holy purposes, will
startle them, rise up before them, and make them tremble and quake.
Some people have made money their god, and there is not a more help-
less god in all the temples of idolatry. Cry aloud, for he is a god ! he
is talking or walking, hunting or sleeping, pursuing or driving, or any-
thing you please. He will never come to you in the crisis of your
life. He will make little compromises with you, help you over divers
stiles, solve certain little problems for you. But when your soul is in
agony, when your life has wrought itself down to the one last spasm,
he will be a dumb god. Having hands, he will not help ; having eyes,
he will not see ; having ears, he will not hear. Who was it ? It was
certainly not a beggar in the streets, — it was some royal great one who

1^6 The City Temple

cried, '' Millions of money for an inch of time ! " There was an offer !
Why, it might have altered the pulse of the money market if the thing
had been feasible — it might have changed the vein of financial affairs
for the time being. An inch of time — millions of money ! And the
bargain could not be struck. We brought nothing into this world,
and it is certain we can carry nothing out. If you could take a five
pound note with you across the grave into yonder invisible mysterious
world, nobody would know what it was. You would have to explain it,
and nobody would believe you. You might hold it up, and show the
water-mark, and lecture upon it, and turn it round and round, and no-
body could change it. Yet there are some men who practically, not
theoretically, have made this money their god, and have said they will
run unto this money as into a strong tower in the time of storm and
flood and tempest and great trial.

There is another god that some men are making. I think, perhaps,
a great many young men may be engaged in this manufacture. It took
me some little time before I dare put the name of this god upon my
notes. Last of all I "ttTote it in capitals, for it is a true name. Luck /
It is a little English word. Shall I say it again ? Luck ! Some men
have faith in their luck. They say, " Things will not turn out so badly
after all. I have always being able to get upon the sunny side of the
road, and something will occur to get me upon that side again. I have
trusted the chapter of accidents. My chances have always turned out
right, and they will turn out right again." There never was so mocking
an idol as luck. Have you seen a great picture, which is on view this
very day, of a scene in a gambling place, where everything seems to
depend upon the shuffling of certain pieces of ivory or brass, on the
doing of certain things in a skilful, quick way, when a ^\Tong turn may
mean utter waste of fortune and dispossession of estate and inheritance ?
Have you seen what expression there is upon the countenances of the
parties engaged, — what anxiety, what wonder, what hope, what pride, in
some cases what shadowing despair, despair just begun, hope just going
away ? Yonder I can see a little fringe of light, and despair just coming
on. It is the god luck that is tormenting his soul. But the young
man who throws in a game of that kind and is lucky, will have another
game to play. He has another competitor who will force him, and say,
" Now you must have the dice out again." The name of that last com-
petitor is Death, and he will play you. The young man says, " I don't
want to play." Death grasps him by the throat, and says, " You shall
play ! " Now he gets hold of his dice-box, and Death always wins. You
see how strong we are when we teach according to the revelation of
God and the facts of nature. There is a point where you cannot escape
us. There are thousands of miles where we can have something like an
equal fight, and you can throw us in the tussle, but when we come up
to this last point of all you cannot get away ! He is only a spectre, but
you cannot toss him ; a shadow, but you cannot dodge him ; a grim
thing, that you say you could smash. Try it ! What will you do when
you come to that last game of all. to close this strange eventful history ?
Where is your god then ? ^^^lere is all the old fortune of chance and
happy luck and sunny accident ? Once you had only to touch a thing

Enquiry for Gods 197

and it became gold. Other men threw bargains down because they
could make nothing of them, and you went and picked them up and
instantly they blossomed and flowered into beauty and success. Ha !
where is your luck now ? Granted that some men may have drilled
themselves into the power of laughing their way out of the world. Let
us suppose — although by doing so we insult all divine power and truth —
but let us suppose that, last of all, a man could snap his finger at God
and eternity and Heaven and hell, and go out of the world as a merry
dancer might whirl out of a lamp-lit room. What of it ? Who dare
risk it ? No wise man who knows life, and is sensible on ordinary
affairs, dare make up his mind to be at last a fool like that.

Some men's god is a well-fcwoiired countenance. They trust to
their shape, figure, bearing, expression. They say, " My countenance
is an introduction, a certificate, a guarantee. Wherever I go a space is
cleared for me." There are men who trust to outward figure and ex-
pression of countenance ; Avho believe that one look of the eyes means
conquest. And many a man who does not make a good show in the
flesh, but who has an honest and true heart, who is gold all through and
through his soul, is sneered at by this man of a well-favoured person, of
ruddy countenance, of face that is a key to confidence and a passport to
admiration ! A very superficial god, by the way ! I can imagine such
persons brought into circumstances which will try their god severely.

Yonder is a man lofty in stature, portly in bearing, commanding in
all the attributes of external person. He says that he feels a pain
piercing him : he laughs, and says. Presently it will be gone ! But that
great chest of his has a second stab inflicted upon it, and back it goes,
and his shoulders come up. His friends who were once proud of him
hardly know him ; and he says, in a voice no longer with the old ring-
ing tone, " Take me home." He is taken home, and betakes himself to
his bed. His physician comes to his room and says, " This is a case of
small-pox." " No ! " " It is." Aye, and that god of his will be dug
in the face till the man's mother won't know him, and the sister who loved
him best will pray to escape from his presence. It may be so. God
can blotch your skin ! God can send poison into your blood ! And
you, who sneered at ungainly virtue, at unfavoured honesty, may be a
corrupt worm-eaten pestilent thing in the dirt ! What, then, if any man
should say to you. Where is thy God ? What if it should be said to
you, as was said to an ancient people, " Thy calf hath cast thee off,
oh Samaria." Samaria trusted to her calf that it would stand her in
good stead at all times and in all places. But there came upon her a
point of history when the calf turned away and there arose a mocking
shout, " Thy calf hath cast thee off, oh Samaria." Samaria being calfless
was godless. You will understand my urgency therefore in respeating
the starting point. There are times in life when men have to look
about for their gods. There are some gods that lure their worshippers
on and on until, having got to the brink of the precipice, they vanish
and no prayer can recover their presence.

But now we have to face the mystery of the revelation of the true
God in times of human need; This part of the subject is not free from

198 The City Temple

difficulty. Many a man has felt the most intense pain on observing
what he supposed was God's absence from the scene of human affairs.
God has been looked for and looked for apparently in vain. When
His voice might have hushed the storm not a sound was heard.
When His coming would have been more welcome than morning light
or summer beauty, He did not appear to eyes that wearily Avaited
for him. There has gone up a cry from hearts sad with intolerable grief,
" Why standest thou afar off, oh God ? " This difficulty must be grappled
with if we would be honest to all sides of our great subject. In reply to
this difficulty I suggest three things.

As a mere matter of fact, attested by a thousaiid histories known in
our own experience, God has appeared in vindication of his name and
honour. The whole Bible shows this to be a truth. I will not quote you
history upon history to prove it. These things are known to your own
recollection. Once upon a time a grand old Methodist preacher, called
John Nelson — a man whose life ought to be read often on Saturday night
by preachers who have got their skeletons ready, in order that they might
be fired to do their work — was obliged to become a soldier, and as he
was arrayed, and was being mocked by many, a woman came to him
and said, " Nelson, where is now thy God ? Thou didst say at Shent's
door that thou hadst no more fear of all his promises failing than thou
hadst of falling through the centre of the earth. "Where is now thy God?"
You know how mocking a bad woman can be, what sharpness there is
in her voice. Nelson, in whom the word of God dwelt richly, said,
" You will find the answer in the seventh chapter of Micah, the eighth
and tenth verses." "Rejoice not against me, O mine enemy; when I
fall, I shall arise ; when I sit in darkness, the Lord shall be a light
unto me. Then she that is mine enemy shalt see it, and shame shall
cover her which said unto me, Where is the Lord thy God ? Mine eyes
shall beheld her ; now shall she be trodden down as the mire of the
streets." Everything is in the Bible ! There is an answer to everything
in God's Book, only sometimes we do not know our lesson well enough
to refer to the place. But these old Methodist preachers, who had
nothing but the Bible, and perhaps a borrowed Concordance, were mighty
in God's word, and oftentimes their sword, the sword of the Holy Ghost,
cleft the opposition by which they were amT^yed. I have some reason
to believe that the answer given by John Nelson was literally fulfilled
in the experience of the woman who taunted him with the question which
I have now quoted. Whether or not, there are instances from the
beginning of history down to our own times which show that God has
interposed in human affairs to regulate, control, dispose, and in all
things to glorify his own name.

Then, as a first principle in sound theolog}'', it must be admitted
that God himself is the only tme judge as to the best manner and time
of interposition. By so much as he is God this point at least must be
conceded. Let us be fair to God, as we would be fair, to man. By so
much as he is God — infinite, almighty, all-wise — he must know better
than we when to come and how to come. Once I spent three nights in
disputing publicly with a well-known disbeliever in christian truth, and
ventured to lay down the doctrine which I have now vindicated, and

Enquiry for Gods I99

against me was quoted the case of Stephen. Stephen was taken by the
mob, dragged out and stoned. " Where was his God then ? " was the
mocking enquiry of my opponent. It was not at first sight an easy
thing to answer there and then. A man must not go away and think
about a question of that kind for a month, and then come with a reply :
he must answer then. Promptness is success ; immediateness in such a
case as that is conquest. The case was apparently dead against the
christian theory. Here is a man, full of faith and of the Holy Ghost,
overwhelmed by numbers, dragged away, stoned to death, mocked in
his last agonies. Where was his God ? My reply was, " Did God then
do nothing for Stephen ? Was the first christian martyr quite aban-
doned ? Was there no seal or token of divine presence and care given
to that suffering man ? I go to Stephen himself for an answer ; and when
he, outraged and dishonoured, said with his dying breath, ' Lord, lay
not this sin to their charge,' — to have wrought in the human soul, under
circumstances so tragic and terrible, a desire like that, was to do more
for Stephen then if he had been lifted up by myriads of angels out of
the hands of his murderers and set in the sun ! " Don't let us forget
God's spiritual gifts to us, — gifts of nature, of soul, qualities of heart,
sublime views of truth, nobleness of tone, under circumstances that are
trying and exasperating. Did he do nothing for Stephen ? I will go to
Stephen himself for the reply. Though the stones were falling upon him
and he was in the last agonies, he said in a whisper, the sound of which
shall survive the voices ot all thunders and floods, " I see heaven
opened, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God." It is only in
crises, in extremities such as these, that the highest reach of faith is
realised, and that faith itself becomes victory.

Then the very absence of God, being dictated by wisdom,
and controled by love, must be intended to have a happy effect upon
human faith. Sometimes we say, "Absence makes the heart grow
fonder." There is a deep truth in that common sentiment. Once God
said to people mourning his absence, " For a small moment," — such
as no chronometer ever measured the duration of. " For a small
moment I have forsaken thee, but with everlasting mercies — billow
upon billow of mercies — -will I gather thee, restore thee, comfort thee, and
assure thee." When God is absent, what if his absence be intended to
excite enquiry in our hearts ? When God is absent, what if his absence
be intended to develop the trust of our nature ? It is in having to grope
for God we learn lessons of our own blindness, and weakness, and
spiritual incapacity. We know not what God may be working out for us
in the very act of withdrawing himself for a small moment, and for a space
immeasurably minute.

Let me leave by speaking one gentle word which will help all men,
for all men have dark days, and sadnesses, and troubles. There is not a
man here — and I see a good many radiant faces — who has not in his
heart, who has not had in his heart or who will not have in his heart
some serpent, viper, shadow, pain, trouble, unrest. It is my brother, the
common lot, and it has meaning in it. One day thou wilt be able to
piece all these things together and see them shaping themselves into a

■200 The City Temple

merciful purpose. Let me speak to thee one gentle word. Take out
your memorandum-books if you please, because I intend to make
an engagement for you. But stay ! you need not take out your diary,
because I know you have no engagement for the day which I am going
to mention. You need not look, because I know there is a vacant line,
and you can fill up that line now. How do I know that there is a
vacancy in that part of your diary ? Because all history tells me that it
is so. It is impossible for me to be mistaken in this matter. So you need
not look into your memorandum-book, because there is a vacant place
there which I now want to fill up. "Call upon me in the day of trouble,
and I will answer thee." Now you have no engagement for the day of
trouble ! You have not. Your friends don't want to see you in the day
of trouble. They don't want to open the door to a man who has a
burden upon his back. They say, " Call upon us in the summer time,
call upon us when thou art garlanded with blossoms ; call upon us when
thy hands are laden with fruit ; come when fortune is propitious, when
the winds are southerly, when there is blue sky overhead." But you
have no engagement for the day of trouble. God therefore comes and
asks that that day may be his. That very conception ought to convert
this congregation instantly. If it were but a dream it ought to secure
immortality for the writer. It is one of those short sentences which,
were it but a scintillation of human fancy, ought to cause the author to
have pedestals and columns to his memory, long as the sun shall shine.

We 'claim it to be a divine revelation, a fatherly truth, a message
out of God's great heart. " Casting all your care upon him for he
careth for you." Observe the reasoning. He does not say, " Casting
all your care upon him for he is powerful ; casting all your care upon
him for he is wise ; casting all your care upon him for he is infinite."
These things never would have touched me ; I could have escaped all
that kind of reasoning and laughed at it. But casting all your care
upon him for he careth for you ! Sympathy is his challenge. He careth
for you ! That is the ground of meeting. Sympathy is power ;
sympathy is omnipotence ; sympathy is omniscience ; sympathy is
infinitude of mercy and blessing and sufficiency, when found in God.
This is His gentle word : " Cast all your care upon me, for I care
for you ! "

The City Temple.

THE INSTITUTE OF HOMILETICS.

T is my growing conviction that there is no work equal, in
range, pathos, and grandeur, to the work of preaching the
glorious gospel of Jesus Christ. I have recently taken the
trouble of going once more to scenes made famous by the
eloquence of many orators, and my impression has been deepened that
the Pulpit, if faithful to its vocation and opportunities, has nothing
to fear from any rivalry. The Senator and Lawyer have undoubt-
edly some advantages in the immediate excitement occasioned by
their subjects ; but for substance, solemnity, and far-reaching influence
and result, their work is the merest trifling when compared with the
ministry of Jesus Christ's truth. Under this impression I have
anxiously considered whether I could make any practical contribution
to the cause of the Christian Pulpit, and the answer has happily been
dictated by events. It has been my honour to receive invitations to
visit several Colleges and converse with the Students respecting their
prospective work as preachers and pastors. Inability to accept such
invitations has occasioned me considerable uneasiness. It occurred to
me, howevei-, that if Students could arrange to come occasionally to some
central place, some good might come of frank intercourse upon minister-
ial and pastoral preparation and service. Acting upon this suggestion,
Students of various denominational Colleges were invited to attend at
the Poultry Chapel, on Thursday morning, May 25th, 187 1, to make
arrangements for periodical conversation. There were present Students
from New College, Hackney, Regent's Park, and the Presbyterian Col-

202 The City Temple

lege, Guilford Street : there were present also members of the Church of
England and the Primitive Methodist Connexion. It was resolved to
meet at the Poultry on the Monday after the first Sunday of each month,
at two o'clock in the afternoon. The first meeting will be held on
Monday, June 5th. One member of the Institute will read the Scriptures
and another will offer prayer; three homiletic outlines will then be
presented for criticism by Students from St. John's Wood, Regent's
Park, and Guilford Street (Presbyterian). The criticism will apply to
the structure and doctrine of the discourse, the style of the composition,
and the manner of the speaker. The Students entered into the proposal
with characteristic spirit, and so far gave indication of a satisfactory
future. If any of our readers wish to join the Institute, they must com-
municate with me prior to the first meeting. The Institute is entirely
unsectarian. Its advantages are offered to members of all denominations
without any charge. There are no fees to pay and no books to buy.

As the work has, virtually, been undertaken at the request of
Students themselves, perhaps they are the fittest parties to answer any
objections which may be urged against the plan. One thing may be
said in its favour : // will affo7-d students of various Colleges an opportunity
of exchanging ideas upon their woj-Ji. Students from Regent's Park will
not be the worse for being criticised by Students from St. John's Wood,
and Students from St. John's Wood will not be the worse for being
criticised by brethren from Regent's Park. The Hackney Student and
the Cheshunt Student will each be the better for a friendly tilt. Viewed
in this light, it is hoped that the plan inaugurated on the 25th inst. will
commend itself to the judgment and confidence of all who take an
interest in the Christian ministry of the future. On one point it is
most important to be explicit: if the plan should in any tvay operate to
the ifijury of regular College work, or to the discomfort of any Professor,
it shall be instantly modified or abandoned.
The course of exercises will include :

(i.) Criticism upon homiletic outlines submitted by Students.
(2.) Analysis of different methods of preaching.
(3.) Practice in Emphasis, and general Elocution.
(4,) Consideration of the hcst physical preparation for preaching-
And (5.) Discussion of questions relating to Pastoral Theology.

THE CHURCH IN PARLIAMENT.

|Y the special favour of the Prime Minister I was permitted to
occupy a seat in the House of Commons on Tuesday evening,
May 9th, 1 87 1. I was glad of the opportunity on several
grounds. First of all, a resolution upon Disestablishment was
to be moved, and of course there was an almost certainty that some of
our principal parliamentary speakers would figure on the occasion. The
scene was certainly full of interest. Facing each other sat hundreds of
Conservatives and Liberals, all excited by the question of the hour, and
all prepared for the tug of war. Sitting quietly in my corner under the
Speaker's gallery, trying to find out which were Conservatives and which
Liberals, I had great difficulty in doing so. In general appearance
they were very like each other. They looked about equal in station
and intelligence. Surely, " they were all honourable men," — all.
From their appearance no one could tell which were Conservatives
and which Liberals. All men are Conservatives when they are asleep,
and probably it is the same when they are silent. Presently, said I,
some one will speak, and his speech will to a large extent classify the
whole House. So it was. Mr. Miall responded to his name, and
then I saw pretty clearly who was who. One thing surprised me, viz.,
the considerable sprinkling of young men on the Conservative side. It
is generally understood that all Conservatives are more than fifty years
of age, and that they have some difficulty in moving themselves from
one place to another. This impression was entirely removed from my
mind on the 9th of May. Many of the Conservatives are young, strong
men, active in limb, and clear in voice, and gifted with rare power in
the matter of saying " No, No," to any doctrine which they disbelieve.
But Mr. Miall is speaking. I do not know Mr. Miall except as a
public man. I never spoke to him. What I say, therefore, is said
without prejudice either favourable or unfavourable on merely personal
grounds. Mr. Miall's speech was, in my opinion, excellent in spirit,
chaste in expression, but here and there misdirected in argument. Had
the question been " shall we now establish any denominational form of re-
ligion in England ? " many of his pleas would have had decisive weight ;
but he did not sufficiently grapple with the fact that all history
brings with it a peculiar set of difficulties, and that in some cases, as in
the Established Church, those difficulties may assume all the impressive-
ness and authority of a moral argument. So far as Mr. Miall's argu-
ment was abstract, it was in nearly every respect (except in its illustrations)
invincfble. The comparison, for example, between an Establishment of
Science and an Establishment of Religion was, in my judgment, un-
worthy of the general substance of the speech. Science claims no
authoritative Revelation. Science is at best but an Inquiry ; Religion
claims, at least, to be a Law. Mr. Miall may be perfectly right in
contending that Religion should not be established by Act of Parlia-
ment, but we fail to see that his reasoning is as sound as his conclusion,

2,04 The City Temple

Moreover, the illustration was beside the mark, because the question
was not shall we establish a church ? but, shall we ^//i-establish one ?
And it was not shown by his illustration, that it must be right to destroy
one thing because it would be manifestly unwise to create another.
The debate on the 9th of May, showed clearly to my mind that in the
House of Commons the question of disestablishment must not be
argued on religious or metaphysical grounds.

Three things must be proved — (i) that the nation has outgrown
established churches ; (2) that established churches have failed to do the
work to which they are specially devoted ; and (3) that they can be dis-
established without endangering any interest which affects the security and
progress of the nation. Prove these three things, and there will be no
occasion to go into collateral matters, — prove anything else, and the
political citadel will be left untouched.

Sir RoUNDELL Palmer's speech was a charming piece of practical
blundering and logical fallacy. Had I known nothing about the ques-
tion but what I heard from Sir Roundell, I should have concluded ( i )
that somebody proposed to destroy a great christian institution ; (2) that
it was proposed to silence every preacher in the Episcopal Church, to
exile every clergyman from the country, and to paralyse a vast system
of beneficent activity ; and (3) that the religous life of England was being
threatened by some murderous hand. It may be said that this would
be the effect of disestablishment, but Sir Roundell declared, that if the
church were disestablished she Avould put forth greater efforts than ever.
So she would. She is more than a political engine. She is a great
christian institution, and as such she would survive all changes of her
merely political condition. Sir Roundell drew a flattering picture of
a country parson : Well ? who wants to injure a hair of his head ? Mr.
MiALL did not propose to /'/// the clergy, but to liberate them. Sir
Roundell said that the Church has done a great deal of good : Well ?
who denies it ? Mr. Ml^ll would rejoice to see the Church doing good
on a still larger scale. Sir Roundell said that the Church had stimu-
lated dissenters to do much good : true : and is it not also true that
dissenters have stimulated the Church to attempt great christian
enterprises? Sir Roundell never grappled with the real question.
His speech was neither an argument nor an answer, it was merely a
piece of fancy-work very nicely done. There was, however, something
pitiful in the fact that so able and so sincere a man failed so utterly to
see the merics of the greatest question in politics.

Mr. Disraeli showed how possible it is to talk well without
reasoning well, and what fine exercise it is to aim at nothing and hit it.
Without laying down any great principle, or suggesting a solitary argu-
ment in defence of the political supremacy of the Established Church,
he contrived to entertain and enliven the House. He made, however
one important admission, viz., that if logic governed the Commons it
was very probable that the motion would be regarded as a necessary
supplement to the Act affecting the Church in Ireland. There he was
unquestionably right. In the long run logic gets its way. Rhetoric is
a pretty toy, but logic is the staff of life. Mr. Disraeli is not a logician,
yet even he can understand that every addition made to the strength of

The Church in Parliament 205

nonconformity hastens the liberation of Christ's Church from State
patronage and control.

Mr. Gladstone was not himself. There was something in his
mouth which impaired his emphasis. His vision, too, was out of order ;
he looked at the question through a cloud, and mistook shadows for
mountains. On this subject his moral instincts will eventually get
the better of his political prejudices, and he will gird himself to the
crowning work of his marvellous and most beneficent career. Mr.
Gladstone is pre-eminently the man to deal with the political bearings
of all church questions. His heart is sound through and through, and
his courage is equal to his most urgent impulses. He said nearly every-
thing worth saying on the subject in one sentence, — before parliament
can be persuaded the country must be converted. Every chapel built
helps the end, so does every member added to the churches of the non-
conformists, so does every penny given by the heart of grateful love.
Nonconformists have their work clearly marked out, — it is a pre-
eminently a religious work. It must be admittted, however, that the
debate in parliament did great good. It gave importance to the
political aspects of the question. It tested the sincerity of many
professed nonconformists. It gave unwilling listeners an opportunity of
hearing some unpleasant but most impressive and telling truths ; — and
it gave politicians to understand that when they renew their appeals to
the electors they will, in many instances," have to prepare an answer
upon the question of Church establishments.

Churchmen and Nonconformists are now rapidly understanding
each other better than they have ever done. They mingle with each
other in social circles ; they read each other's literature ; they enquire
about each others work ; this must tend to the development and
application of a noble and uncompromising charity. I am well aware
that these lines will go into the study of many a clergyman of the
Established Church, and I am confident that they will be understood as
the expression of a sincere desire for the continued strengthening and
success of all that is truly christian and useful within the boundaries of
the Established Church. Since coming to London I have had much
reason to speak highly of clergymen. They have most cordially sustained
me in my public work, and in many ways have shown a spirit which
proves their preparedness to sympathise with movements which are con-
ducted beyond the orbit of the Establishment. In these incidental
ways men approach each other, and become disarmed of unreasonable
and mischievous prejudices. They Avill yet get much nearer, and one
day they will emulate each other in saying — " One is our Master and
all Ave are brethren."

206 The City Temple

CHAPTER I.

I, The former treatise have I made, 0 Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and

teach.

The former treatise is the Gospel by Luke. To that comprehensive
record the same A\Titer now adds an account of the Acts of the Apostles.
It is remarkable that such Aratings should have been addressed to one
individual; this circumstance is suggestive of comparative privacy. In
many respects those two records are the most important Amtings in the
world, and yet they are inscribed to one man as if they were expressions
of private friendship. The kingdom of heaven cannot be long in secret
keeping. When once it takes possession of any man that man becomes
its propagator. There is much that is instructive in this communication
of truth to the individual mind, rather than to the mind of the community
as a whole. God made the individual Adam ; God called the individual
Abraham; God elected the individual Mary; God anointed the indi\-idual
Christ, — the individual was enough; one vital heart !;,ives life to the
whole world. Theophilus was the original receiver of these -vmtings, but
to-day they are the property of all men.

Of (ill that Jesus began : Jesus Christ's earthly ministry was only a
beginning ; its continuation is conducted in the invisible world. We see
but a fragment; our judgement, therefore, is hmited, but our hopes are
unbounded. A ministry begun on earth and carried on in heaven, can
contemplate nothing less than the highest interests of men.

Both to do and to teach : Jesus Christ's life was divided between
Action and Doctrine ; he did what he taught, he taught what he did.
The miracle was an illustrated doctrine ; the doctrine was an explained
miracle.

The first verse shows that we have in Luke's gospel and in Luke's
report of the apostolic church a human account of divine transactions.

2. Until the day in which he was taken up, after that he through the Holy Ghost had
given commandments unto the apostles whom he had chosen.

Taken up : An exaltation as if by another, not an ascension as if by
his own motion. Both senses are right. Jesus Christ ascended, and
was '' received up into heaven."' Various expressions are used in giving
the account, — " received up into glory' (i Tim. iii. i6), " received up
into heaven" (iNIark, x\i. 19), " carried up into heaven" (Luke, xxiv. 51).
The exaltation or ascension of Jesus Christ was not merely from one
point of space to another, but from a lower to a higher ministry. He
has ascended up far above all principalities and powers, — all power is
given unto him in heaven !

Through the Holy Ghost Jesus Christ gave commandments unto the
apostles whom he had chosen. The personal ministry was to be super-

Expository Readings lo'j

seded by the spiritual, — the Man Christ Jesus by the Holy Ghost.
What is the meaning of the expression, " after that he through the
Holy Ghost had given commandments" ? Did Jesus Christ give
the commands by the ministry of the Holy Ghost, or did the Holy
Ghost give the commands through Jesus Christ ? " The simplest
and most natural meaning of the words is : Jesus gave, through the
Holy Ghost, by means of the Holy Ghost, commandments : — namel ;,
Jesus anointed with the Holy Ghost, has in the power of the Holy
Ghost given commandments to his apostles to be his witnesses ; so that
this command was likewise a command of the Spirit" {Lechler and
Gerok).

Commandments: Not mere hints, or suggestions ; not vague direc-
tions or ambiguous messages; but commandments. All truth is dogmatic.
The christian testimony rests upon an authoritative declaration ; there
has been a formal expression of the Lord's will, and upon that expression
all christian service must stand. The commandments were given to the
Apostles ; it would follow, then, that apostolic doctrine is Christ's own
doctrine, and that the Epistles are the continuation and complement
of the Gospels.

3. To whom also he shewed himself alive after his passion by many infallible proofs,
being seen of them forty days, and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God.

The Resurrection of Jesus Christ is the foundation of the christian
system. "If Christ be not risen trom the dead then is our preaching vain
and your faith is also vaui." Luke says that the resurrection was shown
by "many infallible proofs," and that the showing of those proofs extend-
ed over forty days. The evidence is not a transitory sight, or a probable
appearance, or an inferential conviction ; no event could possibly be
more clearly demonstrated and established ; the whole train of proofs is
clear and convincing.

Speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God: He had but
one theme, the greatest which could occupy the mind of man. It is
important to note that Jesus Christ held posthumous councils with his
disciples of which no minute account is given in the Gospels. We must
turn to the Acts of the Apostles and the Epistles to learn the true scope
and quality of Jesus Christ's doctrine.

4. And, being assembled together with them, commanded them that they should not
depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which, saith he, ye have heard
of me.

Commanded them : There is one lawgiver, one Head of the Church,
one source of authority.

That they should not depart from Jerusalem : An apparently insigni-
cant circumstance. Why limit the residence to Jerusalem ? Could not
the Holy Ghost have been given in any other place ? Such arrange-
ments are all in harmony Avith the minuteness of divine order. Jeru-
salem was to see strange sights, — the men who had fled from physical
terror were to stand in that very city as the foremost witnesses of
christian truth ! The period of shameful weakness was to be succeeded
by such a display of moral constancy as the world had never seen.

20 8 The City Temple

Truly, something more than mere death was needed to estabUsh the
Christian faith. The Cross was not enough, — men fled from it as from
a great terror. What, then, was needed ? Resurrection ! Men cannot
be saved by a dead Christ ; they must be saved by a Christ who has
risen from the dead.

Wait for the promise oj the Father: Here we have the whole God-
head explicitly set forth in connection with redemption, — the Father, the
Son, the Holy Ghost, are all spoken of as having each a distmct work in
the foundation of the christian church. This is the more remarkable as
the statement is not so much formal as incidental, as if it were a reference
to an original and essential relation of cause and effect. From the very
beginning the church has been a divine conception, and now that it is
established it is a divine fact. An error at this point will vitiate our
whole idea of the church ; it will degenerate into a human confederacy
settled upon a basis of earthly legislation. Take Christ's own represent-
ation : there were apostles, Christ chose them, — the Apostles received
commandments, it was by the Holy Ghost, — the Apostles were assembled
together, it was to receive a command from Jesus Christ, — the Apostles
were to wait in Jerusalem, it was for the promise of the Father, Through-
out the whole arrangement the divme element was primal and pre-
dominant, thus giving a divine vitality and a heavenly lustre to that
despised form of society the christian church.

5. For John truly baptized with water ; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost
not many days hence.

»

The dispensations have ever had a tendency towards the spiritual.
From the beginning of biblical history to its close there is a constant
movement from the merely external. Where the external has been
specially demonstrative and magnificent, it has been to symbolise the
grandeur of spiritual truth. Externalism has never been set forth as
permanent. Solomon's temple was stupendous, but John saw no
temple in heaven ; the sun attracts the delighted vision of all men, but
in the heavenly city there is no need of the sun ; John's baptism was
outward, Jesus Christ's promised baptism was a baptism of the soul.
So, throughout, the ages have been advancing towards the Holy
Ghost. The same principle has been operating even in civilisation.
The power of the arm has diminished as the power of mind has in-
creased ; in machinery the complex and the cumbrous are giving way to
the simple and self-acting ; in writing, the scribe has succeeded in
keeping pace with the rapidity of eloquence; and in communication
between continent and continent the telegraph is the nearest approach to
spirituality, — materialism has been reduced to a minimum, to a metal
thread which has bound the nations and made them sharers of a com-
mon intelligence. In all this we find a movement from the material to-
wards the spiritual; and it partakes of the nature of that all-inclusive
movement, the movement toward the Holy Ghost,

The City Te^nple.

REPORT OF A DISCOURSE DELIVERED BY

JOSEPH PARKER,

In Poultry Chapel^ on Thursday Mornings June i, 1871.

(the eighty-third noonday service.)

CHRIST'S EXAMPLE

" I have given you an example that ye should do as I have done to you." — John, xiii., 15.

HE incident recorded in this chapter is made the more beauti-
ful by certain features of surpassing grandeur which are found
in immediate connection with it. There seems, indeed, at
first an inequality between the majesty of the mountain and
the value of the frail flower which blooms on its sunny height. We are
startled by the difterence between the introduction and the progress of
the narrative. It is as if God had called attention by great thunderings,
and when he had excited the expectation of the universe, introduced,
not a burning seraph — who might have maintained the high tone of the

2IO The City Temple

introduction — but a quiet little child, a miniature of his own gentleness
and purity. This is the introduction, hear it, and say whether the
representation now given be correct. " Jesus knowing that the Father
had given all things into his hands, and that he was come from God
, and went to God — " At this point wonder is excited. We enquire
what will he do now, at this critical and trying juncture of his life.
, Jesus knows the fulness of the mystery set forth in his incarnation ; he
sees the beginning in the light of the end ; he knows all ; he sees God
• behind him sending him into the world, — sees God before him welcom-
ing him after the completion of his earthly ministry. What will he do 71010 1
Jesus has come within sight of the end ; all the fragments of his life are
I gathering themselves together and taking wondrous shape, as he beholds
them coming into union and forming themselves into their hidden
meanings, — what will he do noiv ? We wait almost breathlessly for the
' next sentence. Let us read it as our imagination might dictate it.
Jesus knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and
that he was come from God and went to God, unfolded secret wings
and went up into the light ; unveiled splendours Avhich had been con-
\ cealed under the guise of his flesh ; called angels — host upon host, a
I dazzling throng — to bring the cro^vn he had left in heaven. This is
our notion of greatness, of pomp, of circumstance. But, just as
when the disciples asked who is greatest in the kingdom of heaven,
Jesus set a little child in the midst of them, — so when we ask, What
\vill he do when the great mystery is revealing itself to him ? he does
not any one of the supposed wonderful things which he might have
done, but, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands,
. He begafi to wash the disciples^ feet! Who but himself could have
I afforded such an apparent anticlimax ? Where is there any creation of
t your romance that can play so with the public ? Who can afford in
one moment to affect sublimity and grandeur and majesty, and in the
next ask to wash your feet ? It seems as if Jesus Christ might have
' washed the disciples' feet in the midst of his most obvious humiliation.
He need not have reserved that display of his humility for the supreme
/ moment of consciousness, when God's eternity was round about him,
' beating in waves of immortal blessedness upon the earthliest and
poorest aspects of his mission. Yet it was then, when the whole thing,
in all the brightness of its glory, showed itself to his inmost heart, that
he stooped to wash the feet of the men who had followed him !

I ask you to consider this attentively. We ourselves, creatures re-
deemed and sanctified, sometimes have moments of special spiritual
vividness. Now and then we see our grandeur as sons of God. In
such moments we get views of ourselves as seen in Christ Jesus which
bless us with divine elevation and peace. Now, what is the social
I expression which we give to such sublime consciousness ? How is that
consciousness made to tell upon the people who are round about us ?
The consciousness will surely perish, leaving no heart-blessing behind
it, unless under its inspiration Ave do deeds of nobleness, compassion,
charity, which show how even the commonest and poorest side of Hfe
may be lifted up and made beautiful. This was how Jesus Christ turned
to practical account his highest consciousness of Sonship : knowing that

Christ's Example 211

the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he was come
from God and went to God, He begati to wash the disciples' feet !
Sublime consciousness was thus turned into condescending service ; high
spiritual dominion and joy found expression in a deed of humility with-
out which even the greatest revelation of majesty, the revelation of the
Son of God, would have been incomplete. The deed was simultaneous
with the consciousness. Jesus did not wait until the keenness of his
joy had abated a little. In the very fulness and glory of his power he
laid aside his garments, took a towel, girded himself, and began to wash '
the disciples' feet. Don't let that picture pass away from your minds
as if it were nothing. He laid aside his garments, took a towel, girded
himself, and began to wash the disciples' feet. If that picture will not
melt men and make them solemn, it can do them no good. It was in
the highest moment of his consciousness that he did this. We are to '
do even little things when we are at the highest stretch of our strength.
All the work of life should be done under inspiration. Not only the
greatest things ; not only the fine carving, but the mortar-mixing ; '
not only the fighting of splendid battles, but the taking home of
straying lambs and the gathering up of fallen fragments. So, if we catch
aright the meaning of Christ, the elevation of our consciousness is to
express itself in the beauty of social charity and service. It is not to
consume itself in beatific quietism and sentimental contemplation : it
is to prove itself divine by embodiment in visible and useful labour.
The apostle says, " We know that we have passed from death unto life."
Pause a moment, then, and let us try to find out the reason. Because
we feel very comfortable in our hearts, because we like to sit very
closely to the fire and read a favourite author, because we have occa-
sional gushings of very tender feeling, is that how we know we have
passed from death unto life ? The apostle says. No. His argument is
this : — We knoiu — the same word that I have in the text, Jesus
hioiving — that we have passed from death unto life because we love the 'i
brethren. Alas, sirs ! there is this danger about our religious life to-day :
We think, v/hen we get hold of a favourite book, and repeat certain ,
familiar hymns, and look upon ourselves, in relation to the social bless-
ings ^\dth which God has gifted us, that we are doing everything that is
needful to show our relationship, to prove our redemption by Christ. '
The Saviour, knowing the full mystery of God's purpose concerning his
ministry in this world, seeing his hands filled "with the gifts of God,
opened those hands that he might wash the feet of the disciples.
There is a contemplation of which I am afraid. There is a species of
spiritual luxury which amounts to the most terrible temptation and *
snare. Do you say there are times when you feel as if you could wash
the feet of the poorest disciple of Christ ? Then why don't you do it ?
You wear away your feeling, and incapacitate yourself for its recurrence
in all its finest sensibilit}^, by allowing it to reach the highest point
Avithout turning it into the most condescending service.

In the course of his attention to the disciples, Jesus came to Simon
Peter. We are entitled, are we not, from the structure of the sentence
to infer that Simon Peter was not taken first ? I do not stop to debate
the question. The point is of little importance except as bearing upon

ft 12 The City Temple

those who draw mischievous lessons from the supposed supremacy of
Peter. The principal point is found in the conversation which passed
between the wondering disciple and his condescending Lord. When
Jesus Christ came to Peter, that disciple spoke to him. " Dost thou
wash my feet ? " " Yes." " Lord, thou shalt never wash my feet."
Peter reasoned from a much lower consciousness than Christ's. Peter
saw nothing beyond the mere fact of washing the disciples' feet. To
him it was only a fact ; it was not an emblem. It lost its meaning be-
cause he did not look at it in a spiritual light. It was only something
done ; it was not a parable full of secret meaning, palpitating with
divine mystery. How true it is that to the wise man, whose eyes are in his
head and whose heart has any sympathy with God, " things are not
what they seem." Now, in Jesus Christ's answer to Peter, we find the
other half of the gracious truth on which we have been insisting. It has
been said that consciousness is to express itself in service. We now see
that, as consciousness sometimes precedes service and dictates it, so
occasionally facts prepare the way for consciousness. There is a kind
of reciprocal action. Some men can work from consciousness best ; can
work from the intuitive, the subjective, the internal, the spiritual. Other
men can only work from the point of information, from the point of
mere fact ; they must see something, handle something, and work their
way from the visible to the unseen. It was so in the case of Peter :
hence Jesus Christ said, " What thou knowest not now thou shalt know
hereafter." We are not always to work from the point of knowledge,
observe. We are not always to work from the point of understanding.
There are occasions in life when our highest powers of reasoning are to
be set aside, and we are to become little children, creatures of yester-
day, receivers only. Those who are blind are invited to put
their little hands into the great hand of God. It is as if Christ had said
to Peter : " Let this thing be done. Do what I wish. Do the will ;
and afterwards thou shalt know the doctrine, — that external thing which
occasions nothing but wonder now, which seems a mere waste of power
on my part, shall in due time be seen to have deep meaning, shall be-
come a precious emblem and an inspiring example."

Illustrations of this are not wanting in daily life. You may find

one in the ordinance of infant baptism. To each infant it may be said,

• " What thou knowest not now thou shalt know hereafter." This baptism is

a fact of which the spiritual meaning and spiritual blessedness will come

by and by. Let it stand at the very beginning of thy life, and God will

■ tell thee all the intent of it when thou shalt be able to hear him in thy
heart. Ordinances are not to wait for reason. There are persons who

■ affect to find amusement in observing the ordinance of infant baptism.
They talk about the crying little children, and they quite shake them-
selves with a species of inexplicable fun as they look upon half-a-dozen
poor trembling little things brought up to a basin of water. They say,
" What do they know about it and Avhat can they understand about it ?"
as if we understood anything, — forgetful that the old man is a young
being ! When shall we give over looking at our ages according to the
returns of registrars and the calculations of actuaries ? The oldest man
amongst us is old and venerable as a man within the limits of this

Christ's Exmnple 213

earthly discipline and pilgrimage ; but manhood is only a fraction of
being, and ten thousand ages are nothing when set against the eternity
of God. We know nothing. We understand in its fulness and perfect-
ness nothing. What if we should be pushed aside, and Jesus should
take up one of those sweet little infants, and say. This is the greatest in
the kingdom -of heaven ! It would be very humiliating to us, — because
we know and we understand, and we snatch a moment's vulgar
sniffling from seeing little children baptised in God's house.

Sometimes things are to be done, and the explanation is to come
after the fact. Our first question must always be. Is this the will of
God ? if so, we shall find the explanation of the mystery in God's way •
and God's time. I planted a little seed, and, as I was hiding it away in ^
the dark ground, it asked me why I did not let it lie in the sunshine,
where it could see the bright blue day and hear the singing birds. I
answered, " What thou knowest not now thou shalt know hereafter."
The sun came and the dew and the living air, and for awhile they
tarried at the prison-door of the seed. By and by the prisoner came
forth, beautiful in form and exquisite in colour ; day by day it grew in '
strength and increased in loveliness ; and in the fulness of the summer
time it knew, without asking me, why I had hidden it in the earth. It
is even so with children whose minds and memories are stored with the
truths of God's Word. At first they know but the letter. The know-
ledge of the letter may come through strife and pain. For long years it
may lie dead in the heart ; but in some season of special sorrow, in the
day of trouble and sore distress, when heart and flesh do fail, it may
arise and bring deliverance, and lead away the soul into the very pre-
sence of God. Believe, then, in the mysteries of life ; believe in facts,
ordinances, means. The intent and purpose of each do not lie upon
the surface. Wheresoever God may bid us go let us hasten to the place,
for there we shall find his blessing.

I have said that the explanation of a fact may come by and by.
In the case before us the explanation came immediately alter the event.
After he had washed their feet, and taken his garments, and was set
down again, he said unto them, " Know ye what I have done to you ?
Ye call me Lord and Master, and ye say well, for so I am. If I, then,
your Lord and Master, have washed your feet, ye ought also to wash
one another's feet." Suppose that Jesus Christ had laid down the ab-
stract doctrine, — Christians, ye ought to wash one another's feet. What
would have been the result ? Who would have believed him ? We
should have found in that an instance of mistranslation ; there would
have been great hunting up of grammars and lexicons upon that point,
because it stands to reason, that the thing is utterly absurd. There is a
missing letter ; there is a wrong punctuation ; there is a great difference
of opinion between critics, we should have said, as to the meaning of
this. But what does Jesus Christ do ? Instead of merely laying down
the doctrine, he gave the example. This shows how teaching may start
from either of two points, — from philosophy or from life. It may be
based upon a course of reasoning ; it may express itself in example, in
service, in deed. Some teaching must, from the necessity of the case,
be purely intellectual ; it does not admit of incarnation. Other teachr

214 '^^^^ ^^^y '^^^^p^s

ing may at once be practical ; it may rise out of the life, and prove by
positive demonstration the practicability and beneficence of its philo-
sophy. Christ's method did not admit of debate. It was not a theory,
it was a fact. There it was, — a stoop that could never be forgotten, an
argument which no ingenuity could ever impair. It was practicable ;
the Lord and INIaster had done it. It was worth doing ; or he who
never trifled with life would not have set the example. This shows in a
wonderful manner the vocation of men to Avhom God has assigned
positions of lordship and mastery in life. What is our business in pro-
portion as God has set us in eminent places, given us great talent or
great wealth, or great position of any kind ? Our duty is to set ex-
amples of lowliness and charity, — the lowliness which comes out of
righteousness, the charity which stands upon law. We require all the
stimulus of illustrious precedent in order to do some things which are
unwelcome in life. We have not courage to do some things solely on
their own merits. Even if we could see them to be duties we could
never bring ourselves to discharge them. We want somebody else to
do it first. We want to hide ourselves under a great name. Christ
provides for this peculiarity of our nature. He allows us to use his
name and example. " You may say that I did it. If ever you are
caught in the humiliating act of washing your brother's feet, and there
should come into your cheek a tingling of shame, you may say that I
did it." You will in life — such are the combinations of society —
occasionally ^yoxvI precedent. You cannot always work upon tl:e abstract
and the right. Sometimes you will want the defence of a name ; you
will occasionally want to be able to point to somebody behind you and
say, " He did it first." " Now take my name, I have given you an
example." So we get out of a splendid precedent what we never could
have got out of an abstract cotntnand. AVe all know well what
this is in life. The young man who wants to try some new plan
of doing his work, trembles a little before doing so, and then he
says, " I will do it." And when he has been brought to book
about it, it has been an encouragement to him, when he could point to
some older man and say, " He does it." We thus live in one another,
and the Past becomes the inspiration of the Present ; and precedents
and examples are vitalised into the living influential forces of to-day.
This is how our greatest work has been done.

Sometimes I have had this question put to me by leaders of choirs,
by preachers of the word, by leaders of various kinds : Are we to go
down to the people, or are the people to come up to us ? And there is
really a great deal of plausibility in that enquiry. It is one of those
questions that take people off their guard ; it sounds uncommonly well.
Am I, says the preacher, to go down to the people who cannot under-
stand these long words and strange sentences, or are they to come up
to me ? Do you ask that question seriously ? I have an answer. For
God's sake go down to them. Come up to you ! Who are you ? Eh ?
Come up to you ! That is a misreading is it not ? You did not mean
up to yoii. AATien the singing man who likes classical music says, Am
I to go down to the congregation, or is the congregation to come up to

Christ's Example ii^

me ? I say, My dear sir, for God's sake go down to the congregation.
Here is a mother who looks over the side of the cradle upon the little
child and says, " Am I to come down to you or are you to come up to
me ? " Here is a schoolmaster who looks at a little fellow about two-
feet-and-a-half high, who does not know one letter from another, and
says, " Am I to come down to you, or are you to come up to me, you
little wretch ? " I say, For God's sake, for Christ's sake, for the sake of
the Cross, go down ! " Let this mind be in you which was also in Jesus
Christ, who being in the form of God thought it not robbery to be equal
with God, yet made himself of no reputation and took upon him the
form of the servant." "He that abaseth himself shall be exalted."
" Thou fool, that which thou sowest is not quickened except it die."

Looking at the incident as affording lessons respecting a higher
washing than the washing of water, we should see : — First : That all men
require to be cleansed. Secondly : That Christ alone can purify im-
pure men. " If I wash not Thy feet, thou hast no part with me."
Thirdly : That the purification of man is wrought out with man's con-
sent. Peter said, " Thou shalt never wash my feet." Fourthly ; That
the blessings which are given by Jesus Christ are to be given to other
people, that we may be as Christ was in the world. These I leave
without amplification.

The last word spoken by Jesus Christ in the case before us is most
practical : " If ye know these things happy are ye if ye do them."
Even such an exhortation, " Ye ought to wash one another's feet," sup
ported by such an example as " I have washed yours," might come to
nothing. Pride might still rule the life. The doing might be unequal
to the knowing. In the communication of divine truth and the display
of divine examples the will of Christ is supreme. But men may despise
all knowledge and treat all examples with contempt. Happy are ye if
ye do them. Yes, and only then. There is no other happiness vital,
gennuine, enduring. To do God's will, as revealed by Jesus Christ, is
to enjoy the highest blessings which the human heart can realise. If ye
know these things happy are ye if ye do them. " To him that knoweth
to do good and doeth it not, to him it is sin." If we were faithful
to our knowledge we should indeed be the lights of the world.

lib The City Temple

Almighty God, Thou art our father and our mother ; Thou art full of
wisdom and power and love towards us. In all Thy daily ministry Thou
comest to us with all the fulness of the Godhead ; Thou placest all
things at our disposal ; Thou dost not treat us with contempt or with
indifference, as if, being the creatures of a day, there was in us no germ
or hope of immortality. Thou dost surround us with the infinite suffi-
ciency of blessing and care ; Thou dost watch us as if Thou hadst none
in the universe besides us ; there is not one of us that is not dear
to Thy heart, and whom Thou wouldst not miss from Thy great family.
We pray Thee to impress us with the sense of Thy continual presence.
Teach us that Thy presence is not intended as a terror, but as the
inspiration and hope of life. Surround us as by fire that no enemy
may come near us. Grant unto our understanding the light of Thy
wisdom that we may see truth as a continual revelation of Thyself, and
cause our hearts to glow with divine love towards Thee as revealed
in Jesus Christ. We bless Thee for the Cross, for the Sacrifice which
it represents, for the love which it puts before us, for all its deep
spiritual meaning. We thank Thee that in the Cross of Christ, the
Lamb of God, we find the only gate of Heaven. Meet us to-day ;
comfort our hearts ; solve all the difficult questions which perplex us in
this life ; work in us saintly patience, tender trust in our living, loving
Father. Say to each of us the word of forgiveness, through the blood
of Jesus Christ our Saviour, which shall give us liberty and inspire us
with joy. Lord hear us ! The Lord command His blessing to rest
upon us, and we shall be filled with the peace of God ! Amen.

The City Temple.

REPORT OF A DISCOURSE DELIVERED BY

JOSEPH PARKER,

In Poultry Chapel^ on Thursday Mornings June 8, 1871.

(the eighty-fourth noonday service.)

THE BIRTFI OF SAMUEL.

" Samuel

because I have asked him of the Lord." — i Samuel, i,, ao.

|E commence this morning a course of readings in the First
Book of Samuel. On Sunday mornings we are reading the
Acts of the Apostles. It is hoped that by this conjunction of
studies we may be able to see more and more clearly the
oneness of God's redemption and instruction of men. We shall see
that, how diversified soever may be the outside of life, there is under all,
and running through all, a beneficent and unchangeable purpose, —
something deeper than man's thought, something higher than man's
will ; and thus, from the " goodly fellowship of the prophets" and the
" glorious company of the apostles," we maybe able to arrive at a,
A A

21 8 The City Temple

testimony which shall have upon our best life all the effect of an un-
answerable argument and all the happy influence of an imperishable
hope.

In the course of our readings of this ancient book, we shall be
careful chiefly to trace, under all that is merely personal and local,
principles that are moral and universal. We shall not concern ourselves
much with merely verbal criticism. The question which we shall ask is
this : What does this First Book of Samuel say to the men who are
living now ? And it may be that we shall find that the old book is
really the new book, and the literature of to-day is but a reprint of
truths and fancies ancient as the mind of man.

Hannah, the wife of I^kanah, besought the Lord for a man child.
This draws our attention to the scope of human prayer. Men cannot
pray by rule. We do but mock men when we say. You must pray for
this and not for that. Such an exhortation may do for man when his
heart is not inflamed by the passion of godly desire ; it may do for him
in his coldest and most indifferent mental states. But when he is in
his most vehement and determined moods, he cannot be fettered and
limited by such exhortations. We need something more for our
guidance than mere maxims. A maxim is too narrow for life. We
need principles which can shrink into maxims and can expand into re-
' velations as the exigencies of life may require. Sometimes we are cold
and dull, — then a maxim will do : sometimes our strength rises to full
flood, — then we need inspiration. You cannot conduct life in its
highest phases and its intensest desires by any set of maxims. You can
only control and elevate life by having principles which can shrink and
expand, — adapt themselves when the man's moral temperature rises,
when his strength rises, and suit themselves to all the varying phases
and wants of his life. Tell Hannah that she ought not pray for what
God has not seen fit to give her, and she scorns your formal piety and
your tabulated counsels. Why ? She is not in a mood to receive that
kind of instruction ; there is a hunger in her heart ; through her own
love she sees iar into the love of God ; and by the eagerness of her
desire she goes far away, with bleeding weary feet, from beaten paths
» and accepted roads, that she may bind God by the very importunate-
ness of her love. That is not the kind of woman into whose ear you
can drop a little formal maxim with any effect. Your religion will be to
her profanity, if you cannot address her in a higher tone, — meet her just
where her soul is. She is borne away by the passion of her desire ;
there is one dominating force in her nature that transfigures everything,
that defies difficulties, that surmounts obstacles, and that waits with
trembling nervous patience till God come. What is love if it be not
fiery ? What is prayer if it be not the heart on a blaze ? Prayer is not
mere articulation ; prayer is not mere words. Prayers are battles ;
prayers are the thunders which call for God Avhen He seem.s to be far
away !

Yonder is a wild goat, living on stony hills and desert places.
He has wandered a long way from pasture, from food of any kind. In
the madness of his hunger he sees on yonder edge, five hundred
fathoms above the level, just one little tuft of grass — the only green

The Birth of Samuel 2 1 9

thing within a circuit of miles. It is a dangerous place, but then he is
in a dangerous condition. He climbs to it, — the rock almost trembles
under him. A moment more, and he lies yonder, hundreds of fathoms
below, a bleeding mass. But impelled by hunger, he does what only
the fierce courage of despair dare do. So it is with that keener hunger
of human souls. We do sometimes pray for things that lie away from
the line of ordinary devotion ; we would not pray for them but for that
over-mastering, irresistible, spiritual force that holds us in its mighty
hand. If we were in coolness and sobriety of spirit and temper, we
should be able to reason about it and to put things together and to
draw inferences. Man is not fully man when he stands upon his feet ;
he touches the highest point of his manhood when he lifts the pinions
of faith and hope, and goes off into the Unknown if haply he may find
God ! If you don't know what the hunger is you don't know what the
prayer is. You can't feel as Hannah did without you have been in
great straits, and when for the time you have been the willing victim of a
glowing and grand desire. But is there not a limit ? Yes, there is a limit,
and it is sometimes well not to look at it in the light of a limit. It is
true that we are shut up like the sea and watched like the whale, but
that is no reason why we should shrivel into a pool or dwindle into a
minnow. What is the limit of our prayer? This. Not my will but
Thine be done ! Is that a limit ? \Vhy, that is glorious liberty ! Not
my will but Thine, — not a little will but a great will, — not my thought
but Thine, — not my love but Thine ! Is it a limit ? It is the lark rising
from its field nest into the boundless liberty of the firmament ! Truly
we do not limit ourselves when we exchange the creature for the
Creator. When we take up our little thought and say, " Lord, this is
what we want, — but not our will but Thine be done," do we then throw
away the greater for the less ? It is a contrast, and only such a contrast
as you find in the earth and heaven, in the blazing sun and the misty
night.

Need I stop to say that there are some things which are not fit
subjects for prayer at all ? that there are some things which don't lie
directly in the devotional line 'I For example, no man is at liberty to
pray for wealth merely as such. " Lord, give me riches," would not be
prayer ; it would be profanity, it would be covetousness carried to the
point of blasphemy ! Wealth, as such, does not lie in the hne of devo-
tion, but far away from it, and can only be made incidental to it by
certain moral considerations which the possessor of wealth may possibly
know nothing at all about. Looked at in itself, Hannah's prayer was
selfish and poor in its spiritual tone ; but the woman did not know what
she was praying for altogether. It is so with us in our highest devotions.
When I lead your prayers I do no not know what I am asking for
always. I know a little of the outside, and just see little edges of the
great benefits I am imploring for you and for myself ; but all the mean-
ing of my -\>'ords I do not know. God inspires the prayer, and then
answers it ; dictates the language, and then satisfies the petition. So
that persons who are asking for a little ordinary daily blessing, may be
asking for a gift the influence of which shall reach through ages, shall
palpitate through eternity ! Hannah says, Give me a man child ! She

220 The City Temple

knows not the destinies that are involved in that prayer. And that prayer
is not her own ! Her petition is but the echo of a higher voice. Herein is
the mystery of prayer. There be cold, formal, rudimentary prayers ;
there be labial prayers — prayers that come from the lips only ; and
there be words which are revelations of Christ — subdued sighings of
the soul, which God prompts and regulates, and which are sent for the
trial of our patience and strength, that God may bring in upon our
little petition a greater answer than our fancy ever dreamed, than our
love dared expect !

We shall see in what an extraordinary mental and spiritual state
Hannah was, if we read from the twelfth to the sixteenth verses : —

" And it came to pass, as she continued praying before the Lord, that Eli merked her
mouth. Now Hannah, she spake in her heart ; only her lips moved, but her voice was not
heard : therefore Eli thought she had been drunken. And Eli said unto her, How long wilt
thou be drunken ? put away thy wine from thee. And Hannah answered and said. No, my
lord, I am a woman of a sorrowful spirit : I have drunk neither wine nor strong drink, but have
poured out my soul before the Lord. Count not thine handmaid for a daughter of Belial : for
out of the abundance of my complaint and grief have I spoken hitherto." — 12, 13, 14, 15, 16.

A beautiful speech of the heart ! Alas, men may be drunk, but not
with wine ! There is a grief that has upon us all the effect of poison
in the blood. There are anxieties that make us stagger to and fro
like drunken men. There are paroxysms, hungers, and straits in life
which take away from us our balance and equipoise, and which
make us look almost insane in the eyes of men who are calm and cool
and who are limited by the ordinary conditions of life. The ordinary
cannot judge the extraordinary. A man when he has all his senses
about him, and would therefore feel himself in his most judicious mood,
cannot reach certain cases — they lie mile on mile beyond him. Only
grief can understand grief ; only poetry can understand poetry ; only
love can interpret love ; and only a woman in Hannah's mood can
understand the trembling of Hannah's lips. We should be careful how
we judge one another. Here is Eli, a priest of the living God, calling a
woman drunken, — when she is insane in worship, when she is mad in
the ecstacy of waiting upon God. There is a madness that is not
lunacy ; there is an insanity that is the sublimest serenity. Priests do
not always understand people. Official persons seldom do understand
extra-officials. Eli had been accustomed to look upon persons, and to
see them behave themselves under certain limits ; he had observed
them displaying certain decorums when they came into the neighbour-
hood of the holy place. But here is something he never saw before ;
and the priest of the living God, ordained and consecrated — who ought
to have had a word of charity for the lowliest creature beneath his
feet — instantly, with that little remnant of devil that is in the best men,
says, '* Thou art drunken ! " Oh, when will priests be charitable !
When shall we put the better and not the worse construction on extra-
ordinary signs and tokens ! When shall we speak hopefully ! " Men
would be better if we better deemed them."

There are three remarkable things in this case. First : Here is a
religious household disquieted by one unhappy element. Hannah's
life was lived under the harrow of Peninnah's reproach. The household

The Birth of Samuel 22 1

was a religious one. Elkanah went out of the city to worship and to
sacrifice unto the Lord of Hosts in Shiloh. Hannah was a praying
woman. ^Ve have every reason to suppose that, speaking in general
terms, the household was markedly religious ; yet there was shot
through it just one unhappy, disquieting, poisoning element. Let us
get away from all that is merely local in the incident, and dwell upon
the principle that one sinner destroyeth much good. The household is
religious. The head of it is a worshipping man, reverent, strong in
faith, punctilious in religious observances ; those that are round about
him have religious convictions and religious strength. Yet there is
something in the household- just one little microscopic thing — that
spoils the heaven. You cannot exhort people to get out of that. The
element is little and insignificant in itself ; but still it requires a vital
remedy. The disquieting element is different in different houses. In
almost every house there is some little spiteful wretch ; in almost .
every family there is somebody that has the power of sneering at other
people ; in most households undoubtedly there are members who can
drop just one scalding drop into a sore place and make it sorer. It can
be done so that you cannot print it and publish it ; it can be done so
that you cannot report it ; it can be done so that you can only feel it.
These are the miseries that damn many lives. Who are we — happily
situated, having little or nothing to interrupt our domestic joy — that we
should in an off-handed manner exhort people to be more patient, and
to be this and that and the other, when we ourselves could not be so if ■
we were under the same circumstances ? Understand, it is these Httle,
insignificant things that destroy the happiness of a human home. Not
great fights, not periodical revolutions in the domestic state ; but nasty
little words, untimely shruggings of the shoulder, and sneers that are no
sooner on the lip than away. What is the cure for all that kind of dis-
ease ? There is only one cure, and that is. Crucifixion with Jesus
Christ. Observe, not mere crucifixion. You may nail a man's hand —
both hands, both feet— and crush thorns into his temple till he is •
bathed in blood : but you may not touch the devil that is in him. He
must be crucified ; but he must be crucified with Christ in his spirit,
thoughts, purposes. Sympathy with the Cross of Christ takes out of
our nature the last drop, the final dreg and sediment of evil, hatred, and
bitterness ; and nothing but that will touch the disease. We may com-
promise ; we may bear and forbear ; we may make our life a game at
setting up Httle pieces of wood, and piling up little cards in a certain
shape, keeping every breath of wind away lest the little structure should
be overturned. That is not life. The only true hfe is based on right,
love, nobleness, law, charity, kindness. All this you find only in that
manly, womanly, godly Heart that burst on Calvary !

The second remarkable thing that you find in this incident is : A
religious use of a daily provocation. Peninnah persecuted Hannah
daily ; laughed at her, mocked her, jeered her, provoked her sore to
make her fret ; provoked her to tears, to fasting, to grief of heart.
Hannah, I read, was in bitterness of soul and wept sore. Now, what
use did she make of this daily torment ? Don't let us fix our eye upon
the one particular thing that she had in view, or the one special difficulty

222 The City Temple

that annoyed and perplexed her ; but get into the principle of the case.
What was the use which she made of this daily torment ? It was a
religious use. She prayed unto the Lord ; she rose up and went for-
ward that she might pray mightily before God ; she spake in her heart and
she poured out our soul before God. That was conquest, — that was
victory ! There is a possibility of having a daily annoyance, and yet
turning that daily annoyance into an occasion of nearer and nearer
approach to God. Do not understand me as tliough I had already
attained, and were already perfect in this matter, when I exhort that we
are to try to turn daily annoyances, household griefs, family torments
into occasions of profound worship and loving homage to God. It was
in human nature to avenge the insult ; to scream out angrily against the
woman who delighted in sneering and in provoking. That would have
been human nature. But there is something higher than human nature,
something better. And is it not our business, — it is with trembling
modesty and self-accusing memory that I speak these words, — is it not
better that we should try, at all events, to get away from the human
nature, which we are too prone to worship in its generalisation, and
seek the divine nature, which has in it the interpretation of every diffi-
culty and the remedy of every affliction ? It could not be easy to bear
the daily annoyance. A footfall heard in the house might mean a
coming sorrow ; a sound heard in the distance might awaken painful
memories ; a turn of a sentence, though it might be unintentional and
unconscious on the part of the guilty mdividual, might afflict the soul.
The worst suffering is subtle and unspeakable, and hardly to be told or
to be hinted at, — made up of ten thousand little things, any one of
which is not worthy of a moment's consideration. Yet here is a woman
who was able to triumph over all these things, and to bring them in as
h^ins to her continual prayer.

The third thing that is remarkable about this incident is, — the
religious recognition of family mercies. When the son was born — the
son for whom she had been praying many a day — she called his name
Samuel, "heard of God." Let us dwell attentively on this point, if you
please, because everybody is embraced in the application of this truth.
We have prayed for a long time for a given object; that object has at
length been yielded to us. What then ?

"And Hannah pr.iyed, and said, My heart rejoiceth in the Lord, mine horn is exahed in
the Lord : because I rejoice in thy salvation. There is none holy as the Lord : for there is none
beside thee : neither is there any rock hke our God. . . . The Lord maketh poor, and
naaketh rich : he bringeth low, and lifteth up. He raiseth up the poor out of the dust, and
lifteth up the beggar from the dunghill, to set them among princes, and to make them inherit
the throne of glory : for the pillars of the earth are the Lord's, and he hath set the world upon
them. He will keep the feet of his saints, and the wicked shall be silent in darkness : for by
strength shall no man prevail." — ii., i, 2, 7, 8, 9.

So sang the rejoicing woman whose prayer had been answered. Praise
should always follow answered prayer.

It was thus with one man. He was very ill ; a great strong man
in his day ; yet disease touched him, shrivelled him up, laid him upon a
lowly bed, made him pray to the humblest creature in his house for favours
hour after hour. As he lay there, in his lowliness and weakness, he said,

The Birth of Samuel 223

" If God would raise me up I would be a new man, I would be a devout
worshipper in the sanctuary, I would live to his glory." And God
gathered him up again ; did not break the bruised reed, did not quench
the smoking flax, but permitted the man to regain his faculties. And he
was not well one month till he became as worldly as he was before his
affliction. He prayed as if his heart loved God ; and when he got his
health back again he was a practical atheist— he was virtually the basest '
of blasphemers.

It was thus with another man. He had nothing when he came to j
London. He used to run errands ; to sweep, not warehouses, but the door
steps of warehouses ; and to burnish bells and door-knockers, in order
that he might get some little gifts to buy his next meal with ; and he
went on suffering daily. He said,. " If God would but bring a turn upon
my fortune so that I could make something, I would turn all his gifts
to the blessing of my fellow-men ; I would show the true use of riches ;
I would be a christian ; in the midst of my abounding prosperity, I would
give a spiritual meaning to all the material gifts of God." His little was
doubled, then his little became much, and his much became more, and
he became, — what ? He would not look at a poor man ; he was ashamed
to be seen of men who knew him in his low estate ; he was a conceited,
swaggering fool ! Now the reverse in both these cases is possible. It
is possible to be lifted up from the bed of affliction and become a burn- -
ing, shining light in fulfilment of a vow. It is possible to get on from
nothing to little, from little to much, and in the midst of abounding
prosperity to be a thankful recipient of God's mercies, — a gentle little
child,- — made for the time being a steward of God's gifts.

Blessed are the men who have had praying mothers. The influence ,'
of that fact they cannot shake off". They may curse and swear, and go
to the very boundary of the pit, and go into the pit ; and I question,
whether through all their suffering, they can ever shake off the influence
of having had a praying mother. The mother's devotion comes up in
the boy's veneration, love of right, conscientiousness, magnanimous hope, '
gentle courage. As with the boy and the mother, so with the girl and
father. Sex is not a physiological question only. I find the sex element
in disposition, in thinking, in quality of strength. Blessed are they who
have had a praying ancestry. As for us, if there be such, who have not
had praying forefathers, there is no reason why we should be lost and
thrown away. God is our Father ; and when father and mother forsake
us. He will take us up. He will lift the beggar from the dunghill and
set them among princes, and make them inherit the throne of glory.

So let no man be cast dov.-n. Let those who have had praying
mothers be charged, as by a captain of the Lord of Hosts, that they
go to the front of the fight, and be the most valorous men in God's
camp. Let those who have been born into the world, and have had
nothing but darkness and soitow ever since they came into it, know
that Jesus Christ receiveth sinners and eateth with them ; and that
when he looks upon a sinner the sinner is transfigured into the son of
Abraham, — as when the morning light looks upon a folded flower it ;
opens its beautiful leaves and shows its thankfulness by telling all the
secret of its heart !

224 The City Temple

Almighty God, Thou comfortest those that be bowed down. Thou
liftest up those whose souls cleave unto the dust. The Lord is very-
pitiful and kind, and truly his mercy endureth for ever. It comes to us
before the light of the morning, it remains with us when the sun has gone,
it is our guardian by night, it doth beset us behind and before and
defend us from all evil. We desire, therefore, humbly to recognise thy
mercy in the whole course of our life ; we would see it everywhere
giving strength and beauty, and meaning and pathos, to all the affairs of
our daily history. Help us evermore to know that our power is in Thy
mercy ; that we have no strength but in Thy strength ; that out of Thy
fulness alone, can we receive grace upon grace. Grant us an hour's
quietness in Thy house to-day. May we know that we have been
released from all worldly memories, from all tormenting anxieties. May
our souls be led away into the light ! May our spirits be blessed
with unspeakable peace ! Ever teach us how to pray. May the
desires of our heart be pure ; may our purposes before God be
simple and may our whole supplication rise from the Saviour's Cross
that even in our prayers we may know the mystery of self sacrifice.
What we pray, we pray in the Mediator's name ; there is one God and
one Mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus, through
whom, the Child of Bethlehem, the Man of Sorrows, the mighty and only
Redeemer of our souls, we offer every desire of our hearts. Forgive
our sins ! cleanse our thoughts by the inspiration of the Holy Ghost.
Establish Thy counsels in our hearts that they may be repronaunced in
our daily life ; and may our whole course be elevated and sanctified by
the ministry of the Holy Spirit. Now what wait we for, but for the
opening ot heaven, that we may receive the blessing we have no room
to contain, that we may be satisfied with the peace which passeth
understanding ! Unto the Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost,
whom we adore as Three Persons in one God, be the Kingdom and the
Power and the Glory, world without end. Amen.

T^he City Temple.

REPORT OF A DISCOURSE DELIVERED BY

JOSEPH PARKER,

In Poultry Chapel, on Thursday Mornings June 15, 1871.

(the eighty-fifth noonday service.)

THE SONS OF ELI.

" Men abhorred the offering of the Lord." — i Samuel, ii., 17.

|LI was high priest of the Jews when the ark of the Lord was in
Shiloh. His two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, were priests of
the Lord. Their office was holy, but their character was
corrupt. They touched sacred things with unworthy hands.
" The sons of EU were sons of BeHal ; they knew not the Lord."
Their administration ot the priestly office was characterised by the most
rapacious selfishness. Hence we read " the sin of the young men
was very great before the Lord." Their evil dealings were the subject
of public remark and censure. Eli himself heard of these evil dealings
on every hand.

" And he said unto them, Why do ye such things ? for I hear of your evil dealings by all
this people on every hand. Nay, my sons ; for it is no good report th:t I hear : ye make the
Loid's people to transgress." — 23, 24.

B B

22^ The City Temple

The social consequences, as might be exj^ected, were dreadful. " Like
priest, like people." The fountain was impure, and the stream was
consequently defiled. " Men abhorred the offering of the Lord." Men
were influenced by their leaders ; the people were shocked by the
priests. Forms remained ; sacrifices were offered ; ceremonies were ob-
served. Yet the heart had lost its divine love ; and religion, no longer
the imperial force of the highest life, had become decayed and noisome.
It should be observed, by the way, that this frank statement of priestly
corruption is found in the book of God ; it is not an enemy who says
this. The inspired record is not a one-sided testimony : inspiration
does not undertake to make out a case. We are plainly told in God's
book that the priests became sons of Belial ; that under the Urim and
Thummim there were hearts agitated by the vilest passions ; that mighty
men sold their strength for momentary indulgence ; and that wise men
were caught in the snare of the fowler. It was not left for an enemy
to reveal the blemishes of the nominally good ; God himself tore off the
mask and probed the sore. This should never be forgotten by en-
quirers who love truth and yield to the claims of honour. It will not
be forgotten by men who wish to know the reality of the case. Let it
stand, therefore, first and foremost a ruling and determining truth, that
throughout God's word God himself constantly reproaches, condemns,
curses all evil ; finds out, lifts up, blesses and crowns with his approval
all good. The moral tone of the Bible must ever be the Bible's most
powerful vindication.

The incident shows but too plainly the vital difference between the
spiritual and the official. Hophni and Phinehas were officially amongst
the highest men of their day. They bore a holy name, they pro-
nounced holy words, they were clothed in emblematic robes. Yet
Hophni and Phinehas Avere men of Belial. The outside was beautiful ;
the inside was full of corruption and death. " This people draweth
nigh unto me with their lips, but their heart is far from me."

Is there not a lesson here to teachers of Christian truth ? It is
possible for a man to have a pulpit, and to have no God \ to have a
Bible, and no Holy Ghost ; to be employing his lips in uttering the
eloquence of truth, when his heart has gone astray from all that is true
and beautiful and good ; at the very moment his lips are fired by the
words that ought to have converted himself, his heart is not in his work,
it is wandering far off yonder, buying and selling and getting gain,
sucking in poison where it ought have extracted honey, making the
word of God of none effect, and causing the people to blaspheme and
alienate themselves from God !

Is there not a lesson here to professors of Christ ? We bear the
holy name, and men have a right to expect the holy deed. We are to
know a discipline that is more than decent, more than socially irre-
proachable. We need instruction upon the great question of spiritual
discipline. When a man who professes to know Christ is found
drunk in the streets, Ave expel him from the church, and call that discip-
line ; when a man is convicted of some heinous crime, we cut him off
from the fellowship of the church, and call that the discipline of Chris-
tian fellowship. It is nothing of the kind ] that is mere decency.

The Sons of Eli 227

There is not a club in the world that cares one iota for its own respect-
ability that would not do the same thing. Ours is to be Christian
discipline. When Christian discipline comes to play amongst the priests
and the professors of Christ, then the covetous man shall be blown away
by a whirlwind of righteous indignation ; and the man who spoke but
one unkind word shall be seen to be a murderer, and shall be driven
from the circle of God's people ! Who then can stand ? Where are Chris-
tians, if such be the rule ? If an unholy thought be lust, — if the turn of
an eye may be practical blasphemy, — if the momentary entertainment of
an evil thought, the flash of an evil passion, — if that be held before
God to be crime incipient, crime in the germ, crime in reality,
who then can stand?

Remember, the accusation does not come from an enemy. We
are not entitled to say, " It is a foe who speaks, therefore Ave heed not
his calumnious words." God himself brings charges against his nominal
church. " They profess that they know God, but in works they deny
him, being abominable and disobedient, and unto every good work re-
probate." " Having the form of godliness, but denying the power
thereof." " Unto the wicked God saith, What hast thou to do to de-
clare my statutes or that thou shouldst take my covenant in thy mouth ?"
So the indictment comes with irresistible force, and we who best know
ourselves are dumb before God.

Yet even here is a mystery, a strange and wondrous thing. Hophni
and Phinehas, officially great and spiritually corrupt ; minister after
minister falling, defiling his garments, and debasing his name ; professor
after professor pronouncing the right word with the lips, but never
realising it in the life. Such is the history of the church. In the face
of all this, God still employs men to reveal the truth to other men, to
enforce his claims upon their attention. Instead of in a moment of
righteous anger sweeping the church floor, so that not a footstep of man
might remain upon it, and then calling the world around him, and
speaking personally face to face, — he still employs men to teach men,
to " allure to brighter worlds and lead the way." We have this treasure
in earthen vessels. We are called upon to bear testimony concerning
truth, — though we are weak, blundering, incomplete, and very foolish, —
though we hardly ever say one sentence as we ought to say it, though
we preach a noble doctrine and then throw it down by an ignoble life.
Yet God hath not withdrawn that comfort from us. He still says,
" Son, go work to-day in my vineyard." He still says to Peter — with
the scars all upon him, unhealed, and never to be taken away, memo-
rials of a great apostacy — " Feed my lambs, feed my sheep." He still
says to the men who forsook him and fled, " Go ye into all the world,
and preach the gospel to every creature." This is not an indication of
our weakness when it ^calls us to that daily continual trust, without
which neither high priest nor doorkeeper is safe, the fervent eternal
prayer, " Hold thou me up and I shall be safe."

The incident shows the deadly result of conaiptness in influential
quarters. All quarters, indeed, are influential ; yet some are known to
be more influential than others, therefore I use this form of expression.
The priests were sons of Belial. What was the consequence ? The

a28 The City Temple

people abhorred the offering of the Lord. The minister is a bad man.
What is the consequence ? His character is felt through all the con-
gregation. Men laugh at his speech, jeer at his arguments, and return
his persuasions to his own hollow heart. We are commonly advised
to consider what is said, rather than look at the person who says
it. We should ask, What is the doctrine ? not, AVho is the preacher ?
This advice is partly sound, and partly fallacious, — fallacious because
superficial and incomplete.

We should remember three things in connection with this advice.
First : The natural tendency of men to religious laxity and indifierence.
This makes us glad of any excuse to move further in that direction.
Men are not naturally looking out for spurs and encouragements in the
way of righteousness, self-crucifixion, and self-discipline. Their nature
rather seems to say, " Eat, drink and be merry, for to-morrow we die."
We eagerly snatch at anything that will afford us a momentary — though
we know it to be unsound — ^justification of laxness, indifference, and
even contempt of religious duty and service.

We should remember secondly : The effect of insincerity upon
doctrine. Sincerity is itself an argument. Men who hear us, look for
sincerity in us ; otherwise, they have a right to say, " This man cannot
teach the true doctrine, if in teaching it day by day he is continually
hypocritical, insincere, unaffected by his own speech." Take some very
high theory about the business and you may contradict me. But re-
member what christian doctrine is ; then you will see that the moment it
enters into the hearer's mind that the speaker is insincere, that considera-
tion has of necessity a powerful and legitimate influence upon the doc-
trine. Is it possible that I can speak truth with a liar's heart ? I know
we are to hear what men say who are in Moses' seat, yet not to do as
they do. I know that, speaking ideally and abstractly, we ought con-
tinually to distinguish between truth and the speaker of truth, when his
character is corrupt and inconsistent with his speech. At the same time
there is a sense, profound and terrible, in which a man may be answering
his own doctrine, overturning his own argument, and writing folly upon
his own philosophy. If his lips pronounce the truth, if his heart con-
tradict it and his life blaspheme it, I cannot wonder if men — who have
a natural tendency towards religious indifference — should believe the life
and deny the lips.

Then we should remember thirdly : The peculiarity of moral
teaching in requiring /^Tort;//^?/ illustration. Men cannot understand merely
theoretic morals ; they must have them personified ; they must have
them taught by incarnation ; they must be illustrated in daily life. The
artist may teach you to paint a beautiful picture ; yet he may have no
regard for moral truth. His non-regard for moral truth may not inter-
fere, so far as you can see, with his ability and earnestness as a mere
artist. You may go to learn a trade, and your chief in the business may
be able to teach it to you completely and to give you a position in the
commercial world, useful, influential and profitable ; yet that man may
tell lies every hour of his life, may break all the commandments of God,
and in doing so he may not affect his ability to teach your trade, or

The Sous of Eli 12 g

artifice, or profession. It is not so in the church of God. A man's
character is his eloquence ; a man's spiritual reality is the argument
that wins in the long run ; the soul afire with God's love ; the life that
brings out in their beautiful and impressive relief God's exhortations, —
these are the things that are most logical, most poetical, most pathetic,
most persuasive.

The lesson is to churches. What are we in our corporate capacity ?
Are we holy ? It not we are helping to debase and ruin the world ; we
have taken God's leverage to help to undo God's work ! It applies to
heads of houses. If the father of a family be the only bad character in
the family ; how then ? It is hard work for the sons to be fighting
always against the supreme influence of the house. How if the father
of the family be continually sending out of him vicious, blighting
influences, corrupting young life and chilling young hope ? It applies
to principals in business ; it applies to leaders of all kinds. In propor-
tion to the volume of our being and the elevation of our position is our
power to extend hurtful influences upon the circles that are round about
us. The terribleness of a moral leader falling ! The awfulness of a
standard-bearer dropping down ! Well may men cry, " Howl fig tree for
the cedar has fallen." Is there no call to us who are preachers, teachers,
heads of families, principals in business, leaders of circles, great or
small ? When one man falls he may jeopardise a whole community.
There are men who can fall, and their falling seems to produce but very
little vicious influence upon society. There are other men so eminent
in position, so established in reputation whose falling would seem to
bring down the pillars of civilisation, would seem to bring down the very
fabric of God's church ! Herein is another mystery. When priests fall,
and ministers play the coward and the liar, and heads of houses eat of
the forbidden tree, and influential men go astray, — yet even then God
interposes for the truth ; he saves in society the redeeming element,
hands it on from the unworthy to the successor who may be more
worthy. Thus he preserves the light of the world and the salt of the
earth. So God never wants a generation to bless him ; the Redeemer
has always near him some who hold his name dearest of all !

On the other hand, we cannot admit the plea that bad leaders are
excuse enough for bad followers, when that plea is urged in re-
lation to Christian teaching and life. Nor can we allow that excep-
tional inconsistency should vitiate the whole church. There are some
persons Avho are only too glad to avail themselves of this plea. The
bad man will say, " Why should I care about religious truth or religious
observance, when ministers themselves are false to their own doc-
trine ? Why should I call upon myself to be consistent and true ? "
First, such a theory is inadmissible everywhere else. Why, then, should
we allow it to affect the church ? There is not a circle in the world
where your own theory would be thought tenable for a moment. Why
then should we apply it in the highest spiritual relations ? I go into
your orchard and point to one piece of blemished fruit, and say, " Be-
cause there is a blemish upon that piece of fruit your whole orchard is
decayed and corrupt." Would you believe me ? There can found a
light coin in every currency in civilisation. Suppose I took up a standard

230 The City Temple

coin under weight and said, " Because this is not of the standard weight
your whole currency is defective, and you are not worthy of trust as a
nation of financiers." Would you believe me ? I find a man who turns
commerce into species of gambling, and because I have found him
gaming, I say, " The commerce of Britain is founded upon an illegiti-
mate basis, and is not worthy of a moment's consideration." Would
you think me sound in reasoning, fair and noble in my method of
dealing with such questions ? Yet this is exactly how many persons
deal with the church of God. They say, " Look at Hophni and
Phinehas ; look at the minister who fell ; look at the church officer who
was expelled from church fellowship because of his dishonourableness
and untruthfulness." Because of these exceptional cases they argue
that the doctrine is wrong, that every Christian exhortation is a word
that ought to be unheeded.

Secondly, such a theory is instantly destroyed by the fact that
Jesus Christ is the Head of the Church. We do not say, " Look at
Christians." We say, " Look at Christ." It is to Christ that we appeal
continually ; and in that appeal is our strength as christian advocates
or expounders of christian truth. When a man says, " Look at the
minister," I say, " Look at the Master !" When a man says, "What
do you call this ? " I say, " I call it a copy : yonder is the original —
look at that ! " When I am told that christian professors are very un-
stable and inconsistent, I say, " True ; but they are not bad because of
their Christianity, but because of their want of it." Find in J sus Christ
one instance of selfishness ; find in him one moment's wand ring from
the right way; point out in his speech one unhallowed wor.l or one
ungenerous dishonourable expression. His life is before you. Hear
me, and be just and true and manly and right ! Find me in Christ's
life one thing upon which you can lay your finger and say, " This is
unholy," then you may pray God's lightnings to strike his church and
consume that which bears his name. When will men look at Christ,
and not at Christians ? at the sun, and not at the little taper ? When will
they look at the Redeemer, and not at the half-educated, incomplete,
struggling, and oft-blundering Church ?

Then, thirdly, such a theory is never urged but by men who are in
search of excuses for their own corruptness. Is that well heard through
the house ? Will any man undertake to repeat that at home, on 'change,
and in the warehouse ? That is a sermon in a sentence. Such a theory
is never urged but by men who are in search of excuses for their own
corruptness. A man says, " When that man who professed so much
Christianity failed in business, I was on the point of giving up churches
and chapels altogether." Doubtless that would be virtuous on his part.
Oh ! fool and slow of heart to believe the truth of God ! When a
man who is all skin and bone, who never felt volcanic fire in his
heart, — never was led away by some dominating tyrannic passion, —
hears of another kind of man straying from the right way, he instantly
almost makes up his mind — what he is pleased to call his mind — to
leave the church. Oh, fool and slow of heart ! Didst thou profess the
name of the servant or the name of the Master ? Didst thou enter
the church because of the high and illustrious example of the mem-

The Sons of 'Eli 231

bers of the christian community, or because convicted of sin tliou
didst crawl to the Cross and feel the healing effect of that falling
blood ? Where is reasoning — where is common-sense — when men
say they have given up their christian profession because some
christian professors are fickle, untrue, and inconsistent ? No, — I will
preach it again ! I would to God I could send this tone through
London town, through England, through civilisation ! I never knew a
man yet Avho made much ado about Christian people's inconsistency
who was not — more or less subtly, it might be, with more or less of
self-concealment of purpose in the matter — seeking excuses for his own
deficiencies, or seeking from his criticism of other people's vice to make
his own virtue the more conspicuous.

Here is a wretch — let civilisation bind him hand and foot and cast
him into outer darkness — who says to his poor wife, who is a member
of the church, because she sometimes has a slip in temper or does now
and then what he does not approve, " Ah, that is your Christianity, is
it ? Well, if that be your church and chapel going, I will have none of
it." Beast, fiend ! There are such creatures to be found. They are
to be found amongst men and amongst women. Oh, the unkindness,
the cruelty, the heart-slaughter ! It were nothing to kill a man, — stab
him right through his heart and let him die. But when he is struggling
towards light, towards God, and has to fight with all these demoniacal
passions and influences round about, over which he seems to have little
or no control, — when he just stumbles on the road and they point at him
and say, " Ha, ha ! that is your Christianity, is it ? " that is thrice dying,
that is intolerable pain ! We know we are inconsistent, we know we
are selfish, we cannot boast of ourselves. Yet it hath pleased God to
be more merciful to us than men are. It is better to fall into the hands
of God than into the hands of men. When he smites it is that he may
recover ; when he puts his sword through a man it is that he may slay,
not the man, but the disease that is in him ; when he is sharpest with
us there are tears in his eyes ; when he punishes us most terribly, when
he takes away the one ewe lamb, and barks the fig tree, and sends a
blight on the wheat field, and turns our purposes upside down, — it is
that he may save the man. When men criticise us and are harsh with
us, by reason of their incompleteness their criticism often degenerates
into malice. AVhen they point a finger at us, it does not always indicate
a fault, but oftentimes a triumph over an inconsistency.

Brethren, where all has been practical and hortatory, might a word
of exhortation be added by way of applying the whole subject? We
are not to be followers of Hophni and Phinehas. The priest is not
God ; the minister is not Jesus Christ ; the professor is not the Re-
deemer of the world. We must, therefore, insist upon the honest
investigation of great principles on the one hand, and specially insist
upon the calm, severe scrutiny and study of our Saviour's own personal
life and ministry. We have a written revelation. To that revelation
our appeal must be made ; to the law and to the testimony must be our
challenge. As for those w^hose satire is so keen, and whose wit is so
fluent when it is employed in criticism upon christian character, where-
in they do it and are able to point out something in us that is wrong.

2J2 The City Temple

let us receive the lesson with all meekness ; they may be right, and we
may learn something from an enemy. It is lawful, according to an
ancient maxim, to learn even from a foe. Wherein their criticism is the
result of malice, or brief acquantance with our character — seeing only
edges and glints of us and not the whole nature — let us remember that our
sufferings are not to be compared with the sufferings of Jesus Christ.
When he was reviled he reviled not again, when he suffered he
threatened not ; he gave his back to the smiters and his cheek to them
that plucked off his hair. " Blessed are ye when men shall revile you,
and say all manner of evil against you falsely for my sake." " Rejoice
and be exceeding glad, for so persecuted they the prophets which were
before you." " If any man suffer as a christian, let him not be ashamed
but let him glorify God on this behalf." " If we suffer we shall also reign
with him." What have we suffered ? Is there a man amongst us who
can show one blemish for Christ ? We may think a great deal of our
little sufferings when we view them in themselves ; but when we Avrite
them out and put them in a parallel column with the sufferings of Jesus
Christ, why we are glad to snatch them back again and put them away,
and look upon ourselves as petted, spoiled children. We may try them
again in another parallel column with the sufferings of the apostle Paul,
and the same feeling will return. We shall be glad to take our list of
sufferings away and change the subject.

Blessed are they that are reviled for the sake of their goodness.
Not many of us have attained that high nobility. We say the age of
persecution is now gone. Alas, sirs ! all ages seem to have gone ;
there is nothing left but insipidity. The age of miracles — gone : the
age of persecution — gone : the age of speaking with unknown tongues —
gone : the age of the devil — gone ! Why, what are 7ve doing here ?
It seems that we ought to be going too. Presently we shall be dying
of weariness, — Ave shall be overcome by this intolerable insipidity.
The age of persecution has gone, has it ? Yes, it has. Why ?
Perhaps because the age of godliness has gone !

The City Temple.

REPORT OF A DISCOURSE DELIVERED BY

JOSEPH PARKER,

In Poultry Chapel^ on Thursday Mornings June 22, 1871,

(the eighty-sixth noonday service.]

THE HOUSE OF ELI OVERTHROWN.

" And all the increase of thine house shall die in the flower of their age." — i Samuel, ii., 33.
"And Samuel told him every whit, and hid nothing from him." — iii., 18.

|N our last reading we found that Hophni and Phinelias were
corrupt men, and that as a consequence the people abhorred
the offering of the Lord. We discoursed, therefore, upon the
doctrine that bad priests make bad people. To-day we come
to the divine visitation of priestly unfaithfulness. Now and "again we
are permitted to see with startling vividness the Hand which rules, and
in which is the rod of power. Now and again God puts aside all
ministries and mediations, and shows us all the glory of his personal
presence and all the wonderfulness of his irresistible power. We
are glad when he retires, for no man can see God and live.
Better to have the ministry of the most inexorable, faithful
prophet, Avho never spares the word of judgment or the stroke
c c

234 The City Temple

of the rod, than stand m the unclouded and blinding blaze of the
divine glory. Men prefer sunshine to lightning. They are both, in-
deed, rays of the divine glory ; yet we feel safer under the ordinary
daylight than under bolts of electric fire. Let us be thankful, then, that
God comes to us through Eli's, through human priests, and through
man's ministry being tempered, as it must be, by human limitations, rather
than takes us face to face with Himself, and pronounces the word to
us without minister or medium. At the same time we are made
stronger, we are made tremblingly glad by occasional glimpses of His
personality. Yet we are thankful that he puts a veil over His face,
and communes with us by voices with which we are familiar. Hophni
and Phinehas were evil-minded men ; Eli was afflicted with weakness
Avhich dipped down sharply towards wickedness ; and therefore God
came out of his hiding-place to vindicate righteousness, to sweep the
floor of his church, and to use his great winnowing-fan.

Eli might have excited one's pity but for the misdirection of his
amiability. There is nothing wrong in amiabiUty, in paternal kindness,
in fatherly forbearance and gentleness, within the limits of the house-
hold. Contrariwise, there is much that is beautiful and impressive and
educational about such paternal administration. But no man may be
amiable towards wickedness. The whole doctrine is found in that one
sentence. Be amiable, kind, forbearing towards infirmity, natural defect,
towards things that are of little or no consequence when compared Avith
the verities of the eternal God. But when a m.an winks at an evil deed,
he deserves the condemnation and wrath of God. When a man is
tolerant of evil he himself becomes wicked. This is a doctrine which
sometimes has severe application, and exposes a man to terrible re-
prisals ; because people who look at comparative virtue, and not at
holiness itself, always have the tu quoque ready for any faithful prophet,
for any light-speaking and rod-using minister of God. Be ye clean that
bear the vessels of the Lord ! If we can keep our garments unspotted
from the world we shall have proportionate power over men ; though
even then there Avill not be wanting censorious critics who will be quick
with their malicious repartee, pointing at a speck as though it were a
blot which even God himself could never wash out of our life. Eli was
an easy-going indulgent old man ; he was more than that. Tell us that
at his own fireside his children could trifle with him, mock him, and
could turn him into a fiunily joke. Well, it was a very naughty thing
for them to do. But Eli was a priest, Eli was the high priest of the
Lord j and when a man's character sinks below his office, he involves
himself in complications of evil which ultimately ruin his life. The ofiice
requiring strength and character, which is distinguished by nothing but
the most senile weakness, — when they get together you have a contra-
diction which involves terrible moral consequences.

In discoursing upon the overthrow of the house of Eli, we may be
able to put all the matter before us under two divisions, — Personality
and doctrine. There were two persons employed in connection with
this communication of terrible intelligence to the old high priest. The
first is merely described as " a man of God." So far as the page before
me goes we have to deal with an anonymous communicant. Here is no

The House of Eli Overthrown 13 S

great historic name ; here is no illustrious reputation to sustain the man's
words. He steps out of obscurity, as it were, and is known by the im-
perishable name, " a man of God." That is the one name that will
do for all worlds, through all ages. You need not have " a man of
God" described, ticketed, and detailed. When a man of God con-
fronts you, he brings with him atmosphere and light and moral creden-
tials which instantly show that he has been with Jesus and learned of
him. There may be teachers who can analyse the character of a man
of God. I prefer not to attempt any such analysis. Better let the
character stand there, hear all he says, listen to his overpowering
speech, and we shall soon know whether he hath learned his accent in
the court of Heaven. He was a terrible speaker ! Did ever mortal
speech exceed in massiveness, in thunderous force, in terrific all-cleaving
might, the speech which this anonymous messenger delivered to Eli,
and which we have read as our morning lesson ?

" Wherefore the Lord God of Israel saith, I said indeed that thy house, and the house
of thy father, should walk before me for ever : but now the Lord saith, Be it far from me ; for
them that honour me I will honour, and they that despise me shall be lightly esteemed.
Behold, the days come, that I will cut off thine arm, and the arm of thy father's house, that
there shall not be an old man in thine house. And thou shalt see an enemy in my
habitation, in all the wealth which God shall give Israel : and there shall not be an old man in
thine house for ever. And the man of thine, whom I shall not cut off from mine altar, shall
be to consume thine eyes, and to grieve thme heart : and all the increase of thine house shall
die in the flower of their age." — ii., 30 — 33.

That was a terrible speech to make to an old man whose life was all
behind him, who was now tottering on the last edge ! It is a fearful
thing to fall into the hands of the living God ! Ministers of God are
required to come up to this point of faithfulness, now and again ; to
have to say these words, terrible as lightning at midnight, right to the
old man, when nobody else is there to hear, — to thunder to one man, —
to shake the universe round one poor old man ! It is nothing to preach
to a crowd. Our words are so distributed and divided, and, where they
are unpleasant, are so handed on from one to another and finally
thrown out of doors, that the speaker incurs but little danger of rousing
the malice and damning spite of his hearers. Therefore our ministry is
a poor tame thing, — a noonday luxury, — something we like by the way
and care nothing for. But when the man of God comes and talks to
one auditor, — and when that auditor feels, by reason of his solitude, that
every syllable is meant for him alone, — you go far to test the strength
of a man's character and the extent of a man's moral capacity. Eli was
a priest, the speaker was a man of God. Man first, priest second ; life
original, office secondary. Eli was high priest, and the man who con-
fronted him was a man of God. There is something deeper in the
human than the sacerdotal. Robbers and thieves have come to Christ's
fold, and Christ said, " My sheep would not follow them." Sometimes
the sheep are wiser than the shepherd. I have faith in the instincts of
of humanity, in the general judgment of an unbiassed congregation. I
have faith in people, in humanity ; not in ephods and mitres and staves
of office, — but in that divine, living, imperishable spirit which God
has put into redeemed and sanctified beings. Surely this message was

536 The City Temple

enough for one day. Who can bear such thunder from the mornhig
even until the evening?

The next messenger that came was a httle child. This is how
God educates us, by putting tutors on both sides, behind and before.
You hear a man who tells you what to you may be evil tidings, — sharp,
startling messages to your judgment and to your conscience, — and
you say, " The man is a fanatic." You walk away, and before you have
got a mile further a little child gets up and smiles at you the same
message, — says it in smiles, in tender looks, in trembling child-like
tones, — and you begin to think there is something in it. You go
further, and the atmosphere seems to be charged with divine reproaches
and divine messages. So you go on, until the oldest, best, and stateliest
men tremble under subtle, impalpable, all-encompassing, irresistible
influences. There are some testimonies which require confirmation.
There are some sermons which are so terrible that they cannot be
believed on the spot. Some men have such a way of speaking — pierc-
ing, crushing— that when they are heard the auditor says, " This cannot
be so ; it is an exaggeration." So God hath appointed elsewhere child-
priests, little prophets, young ministers, unexpected interpreters of his
heart and will. When the thunder and the gentle breeze unite in
speaking the same message men begin to open their ears to it — to cause
their hearts to listen to the strange, the bitter, yet the most needful
word. Very beautiful is this part of the story detailed, — the part,
namely, which relates to Samuel, the little child about the holy place
who did not know the Lord. Samuel had no acquaintance with God.
That is a most important point to observe. Let us read the exact
words of the narrative : —

" Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord, neither was the word of the Lord yet revealed
unto him." — iii., 7.

Still it is right to be waiting about the temple ; you never know
what you may hear. Men don't come into the temple because they
know all about God ; they come if haply they may get any hint about
him, any initial lesson about that wondrous Being who carries all other
life in his own eternal pulse. Is there nobody here who does not yet
know the Lord ? to whom as yet the word of the Lord has not been
revealed ? Do not desist from coming to the house of God ; you may
some day hear a message immediately from the Lord.

This incident brings before us some of the most solemn moments of
life. Life is not one long holiday. Life is not to be spent upon one
continuous level. There are some single moments in our life which
make us old. There are some visions, which take but the flash of an
eye to look at, which make us old men. Look at Samuel, for the first
I time hearing of God, Is it not a solemn moment when we get our
first notion of the infinite ? Can you recall your mental sensations or
spiritual condition when you first began to feel that yonder distant, dim
horizon is but a trembling, almost transparent curtain, and that just
behind it, so to speak, lies God's eternity ? After such a moment as that
a man can never, if he has made a right use of it, fall back into the little-
ness and contemptibleness of the life that thinks the world a nutshell,

The House of Eli Overthrown 237

that calls time all duration. Some of us have had these solemn
moments in our life ; Avhen we have heard a Voice we did not know,
and from that moment we have never ceased to hear it ; it has been
the sub-tone of all that has reached our ear, it has been in the hum of
all nature, it has been louder than the thunder, it has been softer than
softest zephyr of the spring. A man is never great until he knows all 1
about that solemnity of which I have now spoken. The child who
hears a voice, naturally thinks it is a human voice. Can any be so
human as God's ? Thou canst not thunder with a voice like him ;
thou canst not speak in so fitherly and motherly a tone either.
Herein is the incarnation mystery, — God always showing his power to
talk humanly, and to shoot out the lightning of his word from hxmian
lips. God has always during the history of the world been incarnating
himself.

Samuel is taught that there is a voice other than Eli's. The old
man has still force enough left in him to speak this wondrously beauti-
ful word to the bewildered child, groping about in the darkness,
" When thou hearest the voice again say. Speak, Lord, for thy servant
heareth." That is what we are called upon to do ; to be listeners,
receivers, mediums of God. My friend, have you ever seen beyond ,
your own shop ? Do you know that there is a world larger than little
England ? that over that little thimble-ful of water, which you call the
sea, there are other countries ? It is a difficult thing for an English-
man to believe that there is any other land, very difficult for an islander
to believe in a continent. But really there are other places besides
England, I am told. Are there no other places than the world which /
we call " the great globe itself" ? There may be. Why then should
we be compressing ourselves, minifying ourselves, and getting into the
most microscopic compass ? Why not pray for larger life, larger
intellectual dominion, higher, sublimer moral sympathies ? Why not,
having infinitude around us, set ourselves as if we meant to take in as
guest and king the whole God ? You will never know what life is until \
you have passed this solemn moment which occurred in the history of
Samuel, at the point to which we have now come. The non-religious
man is not alive. Some of us are prepared to testify that we never
knew what greatness was, what immeasurableness was, and what majesty
was, mitil through Christ's life we had one peep into the incomprehen-
sible eternity and infinity of God !

Now we can believe the man of God, who speaks the keen, cleav-
ing word, or we can believe the gentle little Samuel, who comes and
puts in monosylables the thunders of the divine will. They are both
the same ; only some men cannot stand the man of God — He cru.shes
them, he is a tyrant — an imperial, dominating man, in the way of whose
arm there is death ! Well, let such be thankful that they can hear the same
message — not in a less noble music or tender strain, so far as the man's
intent is concerned — from children, from other ministers and interpre-
ters of God.

With regard to the doctrine brought out in connection with these
events, it is plain, in the first place, that God requires holiness in all who '
serve him. Why were Hophni and Phinehas dismissed with divine

238 The City Temple

reproaches ? Because they were wanting in original thought ? We now
dismiss ministers from small, dirty conventicles because they are not
very original. I do not learn that Hophni and Phinehas were dis-
missed from the priest's office because they were wanting in vitality and
freshness of brain power. Why were they dismissed ? Because they
were behind the age ? The age ! Oh, what a ghost that age is to some
people. I do not read that Hophni and Phinehas were dismissed
because they were behind the age, — but because they were corrupt men.
Corruptness cannot be atoned for by genius. Gifts are no substitute
for grace. Better be the poorest, slowest, dullest thinker ; better be a
man of stammering tongue, than be the most brilliant and gifted man
who does not know what it is to be under the power of divine grace.
Holiness, then, is the fundamental requirement in all persons who
would interpret God and serve him in any department of the great
ministry of his kingdom. Holiness is genius. Holiness hath keen,
piercing eyes that sees every filament of divine truth and holy com-
munication to men. When the ministry is holy, when the church is
.holy, when every man, high priest and door-keeper, is holy, then the
world will begin to feel that there is something in it that is not of its
own nature.

It is evident, also, in the second place, that all the covenants of
God are founded upon a moral basis. " I said indeed that thy house
and the house of thy father should walk before me for ever." 1 here is
the bond, there is the covenant of God repeated by a servant. How,
then, can Eli be overthrown ? How can Hophni and Phinehas be dis-
missed from their office? " But now the Lord saith. Be it far from me."
Is the Lord fickle then ? Is he man that he should change ? is
he the son of man that he should repent ? " Be it tar from me." ^\'hy ?
" For them that honour me I will honour, and they that dispise me
sliall be lightly esteemed." Where is God's unchangeablenes in the
shape of trees and plants, in the order of the stars and the worlds, in
any outside appointments, arrangements, and adaptations ? Where do
I find the unchangeableness of God ? Along the line of righteousness.
, When he speaks, he speaks upon a moral basis ; all that he says is
conditioned upon moral purposes. Hath he promised thee, oh man,
and art thou living upon that promise ? Know thou, that the promise
is always secondary ; the character is primary, — righteousness first. If
the first archangel whom he summoned into his own solitude were to
sin against him, he would dethrone the oldest of his angels and banish
him into outer darkness ! Let us look at details, at outside arrange-
ments, and see if this is fickle on the part of Providence, or changeable-
ness of disposition on the part of God. Go to the first line — the great
line on which all true things are built, all lasting empires and monar-
chies are founded — and you will find that along the line of righteousness
God never moves to the right hand or to the left, — on from eternity to
eternity, never a break or a deflection in the line of infinite righteous-
ness !

In the third and last place, it is evident that some of the communi-
cations of God are at first very startling and terrible. Think of little
Samuel making his acquaintance with the Lord through a speech like

The House of Eli Overthrown ijp

this ! Understand that at the beginning Samuel did not know the
Lord ; that he received from EH instruction as to his position ; that
having assumed that position, the introductory words of the divine
communication are these : —

" And the Lord said to Samuel, Behold, I will do a thing in Israel, at which both the
ears of ever)' one that heareth it shall tingle." — iii., ii.

It is a child in whose ear this awful message breaks ! Why, it would
have driven some of us mad ! we could not have borne all that weight
at the very first ! God adapts his communications to those to whom
they are addressed. We do not all come upon God at the same point.
God's first message to us is not the same in every case. Herein, then,
there is scope for charity — the charity that is just and noble when we
are estimating the religious experience of men. I am not to say that,
because you did not hear exactly as I heard, therefore you are wrong
and I am right. When you heard God first he came to you along the
trembling pathways of the thunder, and your religion is a sublimity.
When your neighbour first knew God, he heard him with much and
intense listening, — it Avas a still small voice that stole in upon the ear of
his soul, and his religion has always been a tune in the minor key ; he
has been, perhaps, somewhat pensive, contemplative, and never quite
lost the attitude of his first listening; be seems to be listening still, and
to be afraid lest a footfall should break the continuity of the divine
message. When another first met God, he came to him through the
process of argument : the man was broken down by sheer force of
reasoning, so far as his intellectual positions were concerned ; he saw
his theories and speculations broken down, blown away, pulverised,
and scattered on the flying winds ; and his religion has been logical,
argumentative, propositional ; and whenever he has gone to hear a
minister, he has stopped the minister at every sentence to say, "Prove it."
So God comes to us in different ways. We are not to judge one another
by our own standard, but let every man show by the clearness and
simplicity and nobleness of his life, whether or not he has had a com-
munication from God.

I have spoken of holiness, — a word we can but dimly under-
stand upon the earth. One day Ave shall recollect the sun as a poor
pale little beam that we could just manage to do with, by using our
eyes very sharply and putting our hands before us lest we should fall
over something. One day we shall think of our professed sanctifica-
tion as a poor morality. I have, however, spoken of holiness. The
question may be asked by some anxious heart. How is this holi-
ness to be had? In oneway. "The blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth
from all sin." " There is a fountain open in the house of David
for sin and for uncleanness." " Let the wicked forsake his way,
and the unrighteous man his thought, and let him return unto the Lord,
and he will abundantly pardon." I cannot say any more than that.
Some before me, ministers of Christ, have been saying that for twenty-
five years, for forty years, and they assure me they can find no better
thing to say. It is the same Avith me in my OAvn ministry, to whatsoever

^40 The City temple

part of the great universe of trutli I may go. If any man ask me how
to get up there, I have to point to the old way, — the Cross of Christ,
who tasted death for every man ; I have to point to the atonement
made by the Lamb of God ! I want no other way. I never feel my
need of any other way. When I have tried any other path, I have only
had to be brought into some deeper sorrow and sorer agony to call out
after the living God to help me back again to the old way of the Cross.
Try it, my friend. He who walks that road finds his way to Heaven !

Almighty God, it is a fearful thing to fall into Thy hands ! Thy
throne is established in righteousness and judgment. The liar and the
evil person shall not live in Thy sight ; Thou art angry with the wicked
every day ; Thou givest no peace unto them ; Thou withholdest all
enduring blessings from those whose hearts go astray from righteousness.
Thou dost drive the priest from priesthood, the minister from his pulpit,
the head of the house from his family circle. Thou drivest out the evil-
minded man. Thou scourgest those who know not Thy purity and Thy
love. Thou vindicates! the righteousness of Thy name by terrible judg-
ments in the earth. We come to Thee as the God of mercy as well
of judgement. We are now on praying ground ; we may now plead
mightily with Thee for the exercise of Thy pardoning mercy, lest we too
be condemned and carried in the whirlwind of Thy just anger. God be
merciful unto us sinners ! save us in the hour of temptation ; deliver us
when the enemy would cany us away captive at his will ; and when the
great enemy of souls would come in as a flood, do Thou lift up Thy spirit
as a standard against him. If Thou dost hold us up we shall be safe j
if Thou dost loose Thine hand from ours, behold, we cannot stand !
Have us in Thy holy keeping ; establish our hearts in the precepts and
statutes of all Thy will ; and grant that having served our day and
generation Avith all simplicity, trust, meekness, and strength, we may be
called to enter into the rest eternal as Thine own being ! Amen.

1

s

i

^

M

H

"^^^^lairiffffl

77ie City T^emple.

REPORT OF A DISCOURSE DELIVERED BY

JOSEPH PARKER,

In Poultry Chapel^ on Thursday Mornings June 29, 1871.

(the eighty-seventh noonday service.)

THE CAUSES OF ELI'S OVERTHROW.

" And the Lord said to Samuel, Behold, I will do a thing in Israel, at which both the
ears of every one that heareth it shall tingle. In that day I will perform against Eli all things
which I have spoken concerning his house : when I begin, I will also make an end. For I
have told him that I will judge his house for ever for the iniquity which he knoweth ; because
his sons made themselves vile, and he restrained them not. And therefore I have sworn unto
the house of Eli, that the iniquity of Eli's house shall not be purged with sacrifice nor offering
forever." — i Samuel, iii., ii — 14.

UR subject last Thursday was the overthrow of the house of
EH. So great an event as the overthrow of a consecrated
house ought not to be allowed to pass without careful enquiry
into its causes. It is the more important because of a state-
ment in the second chapter of the book that we are now reading : " I
said indeed that thy house, and the house of thy father, should walk
before me for ever : but now the Lord saith, Be it far from me." If we
once get the notion that God's covenants are not to be faithfully carried
out on his part, our moral foundations are destroyed and our confidence
is shaken. For this reason, let us pause at this great breach of a

D D

242 The City Temple

covenant supposed to have been eternal, and let us ask how that breach
came to be made. It must be noted that God himself annulled the

' covenant. Eli did not say that he wished for release from the bond. Eli
did not complain of difficulty or incapacity. The word of rupture was
spoken by God himself, thus : " But now the Lord saith, Be it far from
me. Let the covenant which was made for ever between me and thee
be far from me. I said the covenant was to be an everlasting covenant,
and to-day I recall it. Thy house shall perish." We are shocked by
such words. The conscience of man asserts a kind of right to have
such words explained. Life would not be worth having but for pro-
found and complete trust in God's honour.. It were crime on his part
to lift us almost to heaven that he might dash us into the abyss of outer
darkness ! The covenant was made for ever, yet God annulled it ! We
pause, as earnest men having some regard for social honour, to know
how an eternal covenant can be set aside. The case grows in difficulty,
and, to the eye of the mere artist, it increases in dramatic interest as we
call to memory the many points of excellence in the character of Eli.

I Can you find one vulgar sin in the venerable high priest ? He was a
man of advanced life, and therefore he had had opportunities of dis-
playing his real quality. He was ninety and eight years old ; his eyes
were dim, that he could not see ; he had judged Israel forty years.
What of his character ? Why was he dispossessed of the priesthood ?
Was he a drunkard, an adulterer, a liar, a thief, a blasphemer ? There
is not a tittle of evidence to justify the faintest suspicion of the kind.
Nay, more. We can give Eli still higher praise than this : for, after
having carefully read his life, as it is detailed in this book, I see not
/ why Eli might not stand most favourable comparison with many of the
leading christians of our day. I cannot see, looking at the page in the
light of a merely literary critic, where the great lapse was. I know
not but that if Eli, as portrayed in the inspired page, were set up
as the standard of determination, a great many of us would fall short of
his lofty altitude. These considerations justify the interest of the ques-
tion how Eli came to be dispossessed of the priesthood.

Look at his noble treatment of the child Samuel. He knew that
Samuel was called by the Lord to occupy an official position in holy
places ; he knew that Samuel was, at least in all probability, to succeed
him in his sacerdotal functions. Yet what an absence of the usual
elements of rivalry ! When did he chide the little prophet ? when did
he superciliously snub the child ? when did he flaunt all his own gi-eat-
ness in the eyes of the little one, and use his power as an instrument of
terror, that Samuel might render him homage ? Did he ever nibble at
the character of Samuel ? Did he ever try to reduce the importance of
Samuel's probable position in life ? Did he point out blemish" after
blemish in the child's character, and deficiency after deficiency in the
child's gifts ? It is becoming in rivals to traduce one another. If you
cannot actually slay a man, yet it is permissible, by the rules of this
honourable rivalry, to scratch him. Yet I find in Eli's treatment of
, Samuel nobleness, magnanimity, — want of all the little miserable tricks
which are made use of by men who seek to enhance their own glory by
diminishing the lustre of others.

\

The Causes of Elis Overthrow 243

Look at the unpriestliness of his tone when he talks to the child.
Samuel came to Eli in the hour of darkness and said, " Thou didst call
me." Eli said, " No, my child, I did not call thee." Samuel came
again, and yet again. What did Eli do, knowing that Samuel had heard
a voice more than human ? Did Eli say to Samuel, " Pay no heed to
such voice, little child. I am the high priest of God. If thou dost see
a spectre or vision, or hear an unearthly voice or tone, be not led away
superstitiously by these things ; but come to me, and I will instantly tell
thee all about it, and determine what thou hast to do." That would
have been the talk of a priest ; that is the native accent of a true
priest. Yet Eli said to the child, " It is God that calleth thee ; go and
speak to him face to face ; stand before him and say, Speak, Lord, for
thy servant heareth." Why, that was not priestly at all ; that was
putting a man face to face with the Eternal, and clothing the soul with
responsibilities which never can be transferred.

Looking at this aspect of Eli's character, I feel a reverence for the
old man. I see that he was a fine interpreter of the supernatural section
of life. He was not self-obtrusive ; he was no mere priest ; he introduced
men immediately to God ; he did not claim any power of exclusive or
tyrannic mediation. Look, again, at the submissiveness of his tone
when his doom Avas pronounced. When he was told that his house
would be rooted up, that both his sons should die on one day, that the
judgment of the Lord had set in against him and his successors,
what did he say ? Remember, he was nearly a hundred years old ; his
eyes were dim ; for forty years he had maintained a position of supre-
macy. Men cannot easily throw away the traditions and the social
consequence of so long-continued an elevation. Yet when the old man
heard his doom, he said, " It is the Lord : let him do what seemeth
good in his sight." How many of us could have shown the same sub-
missiveness, the same religious homage, under circumstances so terrible ?
An earthquake shaking the foundations of your house, — a storm-cloud
pouring out its flood upon your inheritance ! Yet Eli was no vengeful
priest in that hour ; he was no mere self-seeker in that terrible day.
Even then, when the foundations were rocking under his feet, and all
the surroundings of his life were full of tempestuous and devouring
elements, he said, with an old man's tremulous pathos, " It is the Lord."
Equal to, " Let God be true, and every man a liar ; He is sovereign, I
am servant ; whatsoever the Judge of the whole earth doeth shall be
done in righteousness."

Then look at the man's interest in the ark of the Lord. When
that sacred box was taken out into the battlefield and was captured by
the Phihstines, Eli's heart trembled for the ark of God. Down to the
very last, you see, Eli was an intensely religious man, from whom God
withdrew his covenant, and on whom He pronounced such severe judg-
ments as these : —

" I will cut oft" thine arm, and the arm of thy father's house, that there shall not be an
old man in thine house. . . . And the man of thine, whom I shall not cut off' from
mine altar, shall be to consume thine eyes, and to grieve thine heart : and all the increase of
thine house shall die in the flower of their age."

244 The City Temple

You will understand, therefore, the fervour and the emphasis with
which I repeat that the conscience of universal man says, " God of
heaven and earth, is this right ? " In looking at the failure of EH as
involving a moral question between the Creator and the creature, I am
prepared to teach that the obligations of character must always control
the obligations of covenants. All God's covenants are founded upon a
moral basis. A covenant is but a form ; a covenant is merely an
arrangement, if it be not established upon moral conditions. There are
circumstances in which God's faithfulness and God's unchangeableness
are seen, not in fulfilling, but actually in the annulling, of covenants.
God will never maintain the letter at the expense of the spirit. There is
a pedantic morality amongst men which says, " The bond must be kept
to the letter," and which cares nothing for the spirit of the engagement.
God's morality is not a morality of ink and seals and witnesses. It in-
volves life, spirit, motive, purpose. Were God to keep to the letter at
the expense of the spirit, he would be no longer God. His unchange-
ableness is in his righteousness, not in his formality. Our confidence in
him is this : — That he will set aside his oldest servants, his first-chosen
men, his most princely vicegerents and interpreters, — he will utterly
destroy them from the face of the earth, and hurl after them the written
covenants he has made with them, — if they trifle with eternal truth,
with infinite purity ! To cover a corrupt life with the blessing of his
approbation, simply because there is a literal covenant to be carried
out, would be to deny every element which makes him God.

The answer, therefore, to the question which we put as from the
conscience of universal man, is this : Eli, notwithstanding all these
points of excellence in his character, is distinctly accused of moral de-
fect. That has now to be proved. " Them that honour me I will
honour, and they that despise me shall be lightly esteemed." These
words were spoken to Eli by the man of God, who came to him with
the divine message. These words are pointless, if they do not imply
that Eli had, by some means or other, brought himself into the list of
those who despise God. Then again : " I will raise me up a faithful
priest." These words are out of place, if they do not clearly suggest
' that, to some extent or other, Eli had been unfaithful to the divine
vocation. Yet again : " I will judge his house for ever for the iniqui-
ties which he knoweth. Not for some iniquity of which he is unaware.
I will bring up in his life iniquities which he himself has pointed out, as
such ; which he knows to be wickedness in my sight, and out of his own
mouth I will condemn him." Now were God to keep his covenant in
the face of such charges, the wicked would in time get advantage over
him ; the hypocrite might, in the long run, be as God in the world.
God shows his godhead in the cancelling of covenants where there has
been a decay of character. Understand, this is not a business covenant ;
it is not a commercial bond ; it is not between one man and another ;
it is between infinite righteousness and a human creature. We are not
intitled to say that we may trifle with our human, social, commercial
bonds, because there has been a lapse in character here or there. A
commercial bond is a commercial bond. I am discoursing now upon
covenants between God and man. These covenants cannot exist, except

The Causes of Eli's Overthrow 245

there be sympathy between the Maker and the creature. Moral sym-
pathy, religious similitude : impair that, and of necessity the covenant is
destroyed.

Viewed in this light, there are several impressive lessons urged by
God's treatment of Eli. First of all it is clear — and it ought to be made
most distinct to many of us, because of a great practical delusion which
exists upon this point — that it is not enough that there be many good ;
points in a character. Character ought not to be a mere question
of points at all. Character ought not to be viewed in sections and
departments, in aspects and occasional moods. Character should have
about it the distinctness of wholeness, entirety. Our goodness is not to
be an occasional impulse or a transitory appearance of moral conscience
and moral concern for others. Out of our character there is to stream
continuous and beneficent influence. We lose when we can be talked
about in sections. It is no compliment when we have to take out of a
character three or four good points and say to those who look on,
" Observe these ; whatever defects there may be in the character, don't
overlook these redeeming points." When we can talk so about our-
selves and about others, it is not a compliment, it is a sign of incomplete-
ness. When our moral training is perfected we shall not have points of
excellence ; our whole character shall be massive, indivisible, and out
of it shall go an influence that shall constrain men to believe that we
have been with God, and that we have imbibed the very spirit of his
righteousness.

Eli was amiable. A great many mistakes are made about amia-
bility. A man may be amiable simply through mere want of interest or
force ; he may be so constituted, that really he does not much care who
is who or what is what. He may have a senile grin — call it a smile if
you please — for anybody and for all persons alike,— a nice old man who
never says a cross word, and never has a frown upon his face. That is
not amiability. Here is a man who is naturally unamiable ; he looks with
a discriminating eye upon man and things ; he is very passionate, fiery,
self-asserting. Yet, by the grace of God, he is kept back ; at times he
shakes in the leash ; he often seems as if he would break it and be
away ! Yet God's hold upon him is such that he speaks gentle words,
restrains terms of indignation and wrath, moderates his rising passion.
There,— though he cannot look very amiable, though he may have a
grim face, — is the amiable man.

Eli had religious impulses. What then ? There is a sense in which
religious impulse may be but constitutional. It is more natural for some
people to pray than others. It comes easier to some men to go to
churrh than for others to go. We must not overlook the constitutional
condition. I heard a man say the other day that there were two things
in the world he could not stand ; these two things were, sermons and
lectures. I did not condemn the man ; it was not worth my while
going into a rage with him ; I saw by his very make that sermons and
lectures could not stand him. He would have been a mighty preacher
who could have talked to such an auditor. Eli had religious impulses ;
but religious impulses are not enough. I have known a drunken man
knock a Roman Catholic down, because the papist said, "John Wesley

246 The City Temple

is in hell." Was the drunken man a religious character? No. But he
had religious emotions, impulses, sensibilities, and even when he was
intoxicated, he would have preferred a hymn to a ribald song. Let us
clearly understand, therefore, as earnest fellow-students of these things,
that mere religious sensibihty, religious impulse and religious suscepti-
bility, must not be understood as proclaiming and certifying sound reli-
giousness of character.

Eli treated Samuel without official envy or jealousy. So far so good.
We commend Eli for abstinence from such interference with Samuel,
and criticism of the child as would have been small and contemptible
in one occupying the lofty position of the high priest of the Jews. But
absence of envy may come of mere easy good nature. There are men
in the world who do not care one pin-point who is at the head of affairs.
That is not magnanimity that is not nobleness. Here is nobleness. The
man who wants to be at the head of affairs himself, and feels considerable
consciousness that he would be able to sustain the position ; he longs
for it, works for it, hopes for it day and night. Yet, there is a young
man put above him, set on the chief seat, and he himself is kept down.
It would be natural for that man to shake an angry hand in the face of
his succesful rival. Yet, by the grace of God he says, " I bid thee God's
speed." He says it perhaps with some difficulty ; it does not escape him
with that roundness and fervour of tone with which it would escape another
man ; but he does say it ; says it from the heart, and the very reluctance
of the speech is a sign of its sincerity. That is the man Avho has, by the
power of the Holy Ghost, subdued the devil of jealousy and triumphed
over the fiend whose name is envy !

The second lesson that is urged upon us by this view of Eli's
position is, — that divine disciplijie is keen — intensely spiritual. I re-
marked upon this in my last lecture ; yet the importance of it justifies
me in recurring to it. I have asked, Can you point to any vulgar sin in
the high priest? When I said vulgar I had a special object in the choice
of that word. The enquiry is, Can you point out any vulgar sin in Eli ?
Sin is not measureable by vulgarity. Some of us seem incapable of
seeing sin until it clothes itself in the most hideous forms. Forms have
nothing to do with sin. Sin is sin before it takes form. Herein we see
the keenness, the spirituality of divine discipline. Herein, the church,
as we said in our last reading, fails in its purely spiritual mission. Let
me repeat myself upon this point. A man is expelled from the church
because he is found drunk in the streets. We cannot call that church
discipline. It is simple decency, common respectability ; it is not
christian discipline. Christian discipline would have applied itself to
the man when he was longing for the drink ; when he was drunk in his
soul, before he touched the accursed cup. A man is expelled from the
church because he has committed manslaughter. That is not christian
discipline ; that is legal discipline, magisterial discipline. Society will
expel him. The church should have expelled him when he was angry
without a cause ; when it was known that a bad passion had raged in
his heart, and he had spoken some unkind, ignoble word. At that
point, — invisible, impalpable, subtle, known only in all its significance to
God, and understood only by those who understand the righteousness

The Causes of Eli s Overthrow 247

of law as revealed by God, — at that point christian discipline would
have interposed and asserted the law of right. The church cannot have
discipline except in its most common forms. Discipline would destroy ,
the church. Discipline would empty every pulpit and disband every
christian assembly, if applied in all the keenness and intensity of its
divine spirituality. Then let us regard the church as an hospital ; let
us regard the church as an infant school ; let us regard the church as
striving after, not as having attained, the fulness of the divine idea; and
having come to that conclusion respecting the visible church of Christ,
let us have compsssion on some, making a difference — let us be charit-
able one towards another.

We see, further, in this case, the terribleness of God's displeasure.
" I will do a thing in Israel, at which both the ears of every one that
heareth it shall tingle. I have told him that I will judge his house for
ever for the iniquity which he knoweth. I have sworn unto the house
of Eli, that the iniquity of Eli's house shall not be purged with sacrifice
nor offering for ever." These are terrible words. Yet, if they were less
terrible we should have less confidence in God. If any one could be
more terrible than God, we should not worship him. The measure of
his love is the measure of his wrath ; the height of his mercy is the '
height of his judgment. Terrible is a bad man's fate ! He cannot elude
God. He may have success ; but in his very success he will find a
sting which will inject poison into his life,' and destroy sweet, profound,
refreshing rest ! He starts on a war, the end of which is known from the
beginning, who starts to war against God.

I would that this doctrine could follow us all through our life.
I do not invite men to accept Christ because there is a terrible pain
following the course of unrighteousness. That is not preaching the
gospel. I do not want to dwell upon the punishments that befal a bad
man with any wish of drawing him from his course because of those
punishments. I have never been able to preach in that kind of way.
But this I do wish to say distinctly, that the bad man has a painful
course before him. Do not leave it on that account ! The serpent
shall bite you and the adder shall sting you, but don't give it up on that
account ! The wild beast shall shut his jaws upon you, but don't be
righteous on that account ! The earth won't have you, the sea won't
cover you, hell won't burn you, but don't come to Christ on that /
account ! Be a man ; " be a hero in the strife ! " I do not preach that
men should be good because God will lay the hand of judgment upon
them. No man would turn on that account. But the way of the
transgressor is hard ; he is making a hard pillow for his head. Be
he high priest or doorkeeper \ be he mighty in gift or obscure in
talent, — -God will not spare him. If judgment begin at the house of
God, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear ! "I the Lord
am a jealous God, visiting the iniquities of the fathers upon the child-
ren unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me." You 1
start the stream, you cannot dam it back !

What, then, have we to break up our morning sitting with these
hard words ? No. Hear Jehovah. " When I say unto the wicked.
Thou shalt surely die ; if he turn from his sin, and do that which is

248 The City Temple

lawful and right, none of his sins that he hath committed shall be men-
tioned unto him, he shall surely live." So, then, " my song shall be of
mercy and judgment." Penitence is the one condition in which human
souls can find God. We preach repentance towards God and faith in
our Lord Jesus Christ. " If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to
forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." " There
is a fountain opened in the house of David for sin and for uncleanness."
" Let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thought ;
let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him, and to
our God, for he will abundantly pardon."

So we shall break up, you see, with words that sing, — with words
that shine upon our Hfe like angels sent down from heaven ! We have
all sinned : the preacher and the hearer, the old man whom God called
into his priesthood, and the little child who was but yesterday born
into the holy kingdom. " There is none righteous, no not one." Were
God to set his mark upon one sin in a thousand and judge us for it,
who could stand before Him ! But we go to Jesus Christ, God the
Son, Messiah, — God ! and we find our infinite security in the fulness
of his righteousness, and in the worthiness of his all-pervading
mediation.

Almighty God, we have transgressed against Thy covenant, and Thy
commandments have often been of none effect in our lives. We have
forgotten God. We have lived in ourselves ; we have been our own
law ; we have been our own gods. Truly, Thou hast been angry with
us. Thou hast scourged us until our life has become a daily pain.
Thou hast impoverished us until we have seen the emptiness and vanity
of our own resources. Now take us to Thine heart again. Come through
the dark cloud of Thy judgment, and in answer to our penitence speak
comfortably to our souls. We seek Thee only through the covenant
which Thou didst make with Thy dear Son. We stand behind him.
Our hearts are safe in the infinite security of his righteousness and com-
passion. Give us joy in Thy house, — yea, fill us with the peace of
God ! Amen.

The City Temple.

REPORT OF A DISCOURSE DELIVERED BY

JOSEPH PARKER,

In Poultry Chapel ^ on Thursday Mornings July 6, 1871.
(the eighty-eighth noonday service.)

THE ARK OF GOD.

" Let us fetch the ark of the covenant of the Lord out of Shiloh unto us, that, when it cometh
among ns, it may save us out of the hands of our enemies." — i Samuel, iii., 4.

N order to understand the full import of these words, we must
carefully study the idea which the ark of the Lord was
intended to represent. The twenty-fifth chapter of the Book
of Exodus gives a most minutely detailed account of the
making of the tabernacle. God gave Moses a special description of
the proposed sanctuary. He did not consult Moses, nor did he make
suggestions which Moses was to submit to the consideration of the
people of Israel. God laid down the whole plan, and no more left
anything to be settled by the taste of Moses than he left Noah to deter-
mine the colours of the rainbow. As he said to Job, " Where wast
thou when I laid the foundations ot the earth ? " so he might have said
to Moses, " Where wast thou when I designed the tabernacle ? "' There
E £

250 The City Temple

was not a ring, a knop, a socket, a coupling, or a pin which God himself
did not specifically design. Was it not like him? Is there anywhere
one sprig of moss which owes its humble beauty to any hand but his
own ? As the tabernacle was built for the sake of the ark, and not
the ark for the sake of the tabernacle, it becomes most important to
know what the ark was, and what spiritual meaning the symbol was
intended by Almighty God to signify. Listen to the holy word : " Thou
shalt make an ark ; thou shalt overlay it with pure gold ; thou shalt
make upon it a crown of gold round about ; thou shalt put into the ark
the testimony which I shall give thee ; thou shalt make a mercy seat of
pure gold ; thou shalt put the mercy seat above the ark ; and in the ark
thou shalt put the testimony that I shall give thee. And there will I
meet thee, and I will commune with thee from above the mercy seat,
from between the two cherubims which are upon the ark of the testi-
mony, of all the things which I will give thee in commandment unto the
children of Israel."

The ark is called by various names. In Exodus it is called the ark
of the testimony ; in Deuteronomy it is called the ark of the covenant ;
in the first of Samuel it is called the ark of the Lord ; and in the
same book it is called the ark of God. What was this ark ? Looked
at materially, the ark of the covenant was a box or chest, fifty-four
inches long, about thirty inches broad, and about thirty inches high.
The box was overlaid with pure gold. The lid or cover of the ark was
called the mercy seat. Upon the mercy seat were two golden cherul im,
one at either end, facing each other, and covering the mercy seat with
their expanded wings. At the mercy seat — the lid of this box — God
promised to meet Moses and commune with him. Hence, God was
said to dwell between the cherubim. The ark contained the two tables
of stone on which God had written the ten commandments. " I will
write on the tables the words that were written on the first tables which
thou brakest, and thou shalt put them in the ark." In the first of
Kings we read there was nothing in the ark save the two tables of stone
which Moses put there at Horeb. The ark was placed in the holy of
holies ; indeed it is called in the first book of Chronicles, " the house
of the mercy seat."

Let us now stand beside that box and consider its meaning, that
we may be prepared to discourse upon the text. In the box you find
the commandments of God. The box is not merely in the holy house, —
it is in the holiest place of the holy house. In the very midst of that
box you find only the written law of the Most High. Keep that picture
before you, if you would understand the spiritual significance of the
symbol. As with the box in the tabernacle in the holy of holies, con-
taining the written law of God, so with creation to-day. The great
moral idea never changes. The chest is destroyed, the golden cheru-
bim may no longer be found; but the moral purpose, the moral intent,
is the same now and for ever. Penetrate into the highest place in the
universe— go higher than the clouds, higher than the sun, higher
than the farthest star — pass, if you may, into the secret solitudes
of God, where human strife and din are never heard — and there, at
the very centre, in the great solemn heart of all systems and

The Ark of God 251

powers, you find, — What ? The law of God ! This is at once
a terror and a security. The spirit of judgment quickens all crea-
tion. Out of everything there comes a fire which scorches the bad
man's hand. Wherever a good man goes a blessing approves and con-
firms his steps. For a moment the bad man may seem to bend things
according to his own will : but " the Lord shall laugh at him, for he
seeth that his day is coming, when he shall fly away as a dream and
shall not be found, — yea, he shall be chased away like a vision of the
night ! " Some of us could not live but for this reflection. Life would
be a constant temptation to us, unmingled Avith any element of mercy.
It is something to know, and deeply to feel, that all things are bound
together by law, — that at the heart of the universe there is a written
statute and covenant. It gives steadiness to life ; it defines relations,
rights, consequences ; it enables a man to view with composure all the
flutter and dust of the little day, and to draw himself forward by the
power of an endless life. This, then, is part of the teaching of the
symbolic ark. In the holy of holies we find the sacred chest covered
with gold, watched by the cherubim, and in that haUowed chest is
hidden the law written by the finger of God. That law is subtle as life.
You are assured of its presence ; you are encompassed by a mystery
which is never withdrawn for a moment ; you cannot explain it ; you
are punished when you resent it ; you are at rest when you obey it ;
your very liberty is but a phase of restraint !

Happily, this is but part of the teaching of the ark. Over the ark
there is a lid. Very special were the instructions given to Moses re-
specting it. The lid was the mercy seat, the propitiatory. It was
there — not on the tables of stone graven with the law of God — but on
the lid, the covering of the ark, that God promised to meet Moses.
Now see how the case stands when you put both sides of it together. ■
There you have the sovereign, unchangeable, inexorable law of God ;
and over it you have the covering of God's tender mercy. When we
look at the law, we look at it through the mercy, because the mercy
covers it. When the law comes to us, it comes up through the mercy,
because the m.ercy overlies it. All law now comes to us through the
mediation of mercy. " The Lord is good to all, and his tender mercies
are over all his works." What then ? At the very centre of the human
system we have law and mercy, righteousness and love, sovereignty and
sacrifice. Creation says, " My song shall be of mercy and judgment."
Society is not a chaos ; creation is not an aggregate of unrelated frag-
ments. Amid all the din, confusion, stress, and upset of life, there is,
at the heart of things, a law unchanging as God, — a mercy ever endur-
ing, ever pitiful.

This brief sketch of the ark of the covenant and its spiritual signi-
ficance, will enable many to follow with intelligence the varying fortunes
of Israel, which have ever been associated, more or less directly, with
this ark. We want a book written upon the ark of the Lord. Seek out
its history ; see what becomes of the people according to their treatment
of this ark ; see how one little thing rules all things, — how the heart-
beat palpitates to the extremities of the universe ! I counsel this to you
youthful students ; — Make this your subject, — the ark of the covenant ;

252 The City Temple

its structure, its typified doctrine, its relation to the history of a nation,
and the eternal principles which come out of this symbolical representa-
tion of God.

In the case before us, the Philistines had slain of the men of Israel
about four thousand. When the people came into the camp, the
elders of Israel said, " Wherefore hath the Lord smitten us to-day
before the Philistines ? " This is an enquiry which men should always
put to themselves in times of disaster and failure. "Why has God
withdrawn me from the crowd and made an invalid of me, and shut me
up in this shaded chamber ? Why has God sent a blight upon my wheat
fields and olive yards, so that there should be no produce ? Why hath
God barked my fig tree and taken away from me my one ewe lamb —
spoiled the idol of my love ? Is there not a cause ? " So far, the men
were acting upon a principle of common-sense. Every effect has its
cause. Four thousand dead men of Israel are lying upon the field,
slaughtered by the sword of the Philistines. Why ? Admire sagacity,
common-sense, wherever you find it.

But observe what a mixture is presented by the text. " Let us,"
said the elders of Israel, " fetch the ark of the covenant of the Lord
out of Shiloh unto us, that when it cometh among us it may save us out
of the hands of our enemies." The ark had been at Shiloh from the
days of Joshua, during the ministry of all the Judges. And now sud-
denly the leaders of Israel, with four thousand dead men lying about them,
say, " Let us fetch the ark." They brought the ark, and when the ark
of the covenant came into the camp, all Israel shouted with a great
shout, so that the earth rang again ! The Philistines said, " What is
this ? they are bringing their god into the field ! " and the Philistines
trembled. Notwithstanding this, the Philistines gathered together their
courage, came against Israel, and Israel was smitten, and the ark of
God was taken.

There must be some lessons here. Learn that the formal is useless
without the spiritual. There is the ark, made as God dictated, — a
sacred thing ; the law is there ; the mercy seat is there. Yet Israel
falls by the arms of the Philistines, and the sacred shrine is taken by
the hands of the idolaters. There is nothing strange in this. The
formal never can save men ; the institutional never can redeem society.
A mere observance, a ceremony, a form, can never touch the dead
heart of the world. This is, emphatically, the day of bringing in arks,
societies, formalities, ceremonies. You have in your house an altar :
that altar will be nothing influential in your life if you have it
there merely for the sake of formality. A man who cannot altogether
throw away the traditions of his lifetime, — who hears, it may be, a
parent's voice, saying to him in secret, again and again, " You promised
me to do so and so," — and in fulfilment of that promise he may snatch
up the ark of the covenant, the law of God, hastily read through a few
verses, shut up the book, and run away, — has he read the Word of
God ? He has insulted the divine testimony ! True, he opened the
book, he uttered to himself the words. Yet the service was no use in
his life, — it was a mere formality. God will not be trifled with. Holy
words will have no holy effect, if read in that manner,

The Ark of God 253

Learn that religion is not to be a mere convenience. The ark is
not to be used as a magical spell. Holy things are not to be run to in
extremity, and set up in order that men who are in peril may be saved.
The reasoning of the Israelites was subtle, but intensely selfish. "That
it may save us." Why, that sounds like a modern expression ! To be
personally saved, to be delivered out of a pressing emergency or strait —
that seems to be the mere object which many people have in view when
identifying themselves with religious institutions, christian observances
and fellowships. We shall never have a robust, imperial piety till we
get out of all these little, personal, narrow considerations, and identify
ourselves with the very life of God — the infinite love of his eternal
heart. We are, verily, more or less all guilty of this very thing. We
have done as long as possible without the ark. We have gone a-war-
fare at our own charges ; we have defied the hosts of the alien in our
own strength ; and when we have been worsted, overthrown, and
brought to the very brink of ruin, a lucky idea has seized us, — we have
said, " Fetch the ark ! " When the ark was brought, it was nothing
but a wooden box : fetched by unworthy hands, its inspiration and
glory ceased from it. " If the light that is in us be darkness, how great
is that darkness." Men have lived Hves of practical athiesm year after
year ; and when there has been a panic in the market, they have
bethought themselves of old memories, early vows, first christian loves ;
and they have turned pious because there was a panic barking at them
like a mad wolf, — they have begun to pray, and heaven sent back their
voice unanswered, unblessed ! We must not play with our religion. I
will guarantee that this place of worship be filled at five o'clock in the
morning and at twelve o'clock at night under given circumstances.
Let there be a plague in the city — let men's hearts fail them for fear —
let them feel that all that is material is insecure — that nothing is real
but the invisible and the spiritual— and they will instantly attend
churches and chapels by the thousand, and be very humble in the
presence of God. Sirs, this will not do ! God is not to be moved by
incantations, by decent formalities, and external reverences. He will
answer the continuous cry of the life. The man who prays without
ceasing may ever count upon the interposition of God.

We learn that the Philistines took the ark of the covenant. But
though they had captured the ark, that sacred shrine made itself
terribly felt. The Philistines took the ark to Ashdod, and put it into the
house of their god Dagon. You see there was a good deal of religious-
ness in these men. They took away the box out of the battlefield ;
they unlocked the door where they kept their pagan god, and put the
box in beside him. They set the Right beside the Wrong. What a
terrible night's Avork there was ! " When they of Ashdod rose early in
the morning, behold, Dagon was fallen upon his face to the earth before
the ark of the Lord ! " Well, that might be an accident. Perhaps in
going into the house and moving the ark carelessly, they might have
injured Dagon's position, and so he might have come down, as it were,
by haphazard. So they set Dagon up again, made his position secure
and respectable, and left him in his solitude. Next morning they came,
and Dagon was fallen upon his face to the ground before the ark of the

254 The City Temple

Lord ; and the head of Dagon, and both the palms of his hands, were
cut off upon the threshold. A terrible night's work there was in this
case ! What communion hath light with darkness ? What fellowship
hath Christ with Belial ? When Right and Wrong come face to face,
there must always be a terrible collision. When the Right goes down,
as it does occasionally, it will be only as the ark of the Lord went
down in the case before us, to plague its very captors and throw down
the idol of their hearts. Would to God we could learn this doctrine, —
that in some cases success is defeat ! We need to learn this lesson, —
that in some cases victory is loss, and that gain stings the winner night
and day.

Here I must ask young readers to consider this part of the story
diligently. I know of nothing equal to it in modern writing for excite-
ment, for that singular romantic element which always spell-binds you
young readers. Read the history of the ark, I tell you again. The
Philistines took the ark, but they wanted to get clear of it, if anybody
would take it away. What ! you have won the ark, — keep it. They
took it from place to place, and could make nothing of it ; it was a
torment to them. Last of all they said, " Let us send a present along
with it, and by all means get clear of it !" Aye, it will even be so with
ill-gotten results ; with undeserved, unrighteously attained gain, be it
wealth or influence, or what it may. It will not rest with the individual ;
it will say, "Send me away!" Judas took the thirty pieces of silver,
but they had become so hot in his hand as to boil his blood, and he
said, " Take them away !" to them who bought him. But the buyers said,
" No ! " The bad man has a hard lot of it ; when he wants to get clear of
his gain, and cries and begs that somebody will relieve him of his very
victories. The Lord's sword is two-edged ; touch it where you like, it
cuts clear away to the bone !

Learn that the false relation of things always brings torment. Be
it in the family : if the heads of the house are cHsagreed concerning
great spiritual truths and realities, there cannot be peace in the house.
Be it in business : one partner is a righteous man, and another is careless
about moral obligations. There cannot be peace ; there may be success,
fine sharp practice, keen fencing, and methods of doing things that look
very successful ; but there will be a stinging process, after all, — a sting
that will pierce the heart and make it swell, and fill it with pain and
anguish. You cannot rub right and wrong together, and make them
cohere. It is so in a man's own heart. If half of the man is going
one way and the other half wants to go the other way, the man's life is
a most agonizing, distressing struggle. Everywhere this great law is
written. If it had never been spoken by Jesus, it might have been
spelled out by scholars in the world's school, — " Ye cannot serve God
and Mammon."

The great spiritual application and the significance of the ark is
undoubtedly Jesus Christ. We have no sacred chest ; we have no box
covered with pure gold ; no tables of stone ; no manufactured seat of
mercy. All the great spiritual significance and application of tliese

The Ark of God ISS

things we find in Christ. What the ark was to Israel, Jesus Christ is to
the Church. In Jesus Christ we find law. Some christians find that
a difficult lesson to learn. They speak of Jesus as being all love, gentle-
ness, and compassion, — tenderness exceeding, and pity infinite. He
was more than that. Whenever he spoke of law, he spoke of it as the
lawgiver. "Heaven and earth shall pass away, but this law must be
fulfilled." Jesus never trifled with equity, with righteousness, with ,
probity, with moral obligation. Jesus Christ was not all mere sensibility.
His was the sensibility that comes out of justice, righteousness, truth,
purity, as well as tenderness, mercy, compassion. In Jesus Christ we
find all the mercy of God ! Will you observe that form of expression ?
I intend it to signify that nowhere else can you find an element of
mercy that is wanting in the character and spirit of Jesus Christ. He is
at the head of all things. As the ark was in the tabernacle, in the holy of
holies, so He is the head over all things. He is highly exalted. All
things were made by him, and for him ; and without him was nothing
made that is made. He was not made for creation ; creation was made
for him. The ark was not built for the tabernacle, but the tabernacle
was built for the ark. All things are in Christ and for Christ. One day
this will be seen. He must reign until he hath put all enemies under his
feet. The last enemy that shall be destroyed is Death ; and in the
resplendent universe there shall be everywhere life, immortality. " He
shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied." When he is
satisfied, who shall be discontented ? When he says, " It is enough,"
who shall require any addition ? When he who came up from unbegin-
ing time — God the Son, lived and died, and rose again — suffered all
Bethlehem, Gethsemane, Golgotha — when he shall say, "I am satis-
fied," who shall be able to able to suggest that one thing is wanting to
complete the happiness of his redeemed family ? My dear friend, do not
have the ark to fetch from Shiloh ; always have the ark with you. Don't
let it be in the keeping of somebody else for twenty years, and then in the
time of peril and perplexity, cry out for it. Have it always at hand.
May our God be as he has promised to be, if we so will it by our prayer
and love, — a God nigh at hand, and not far off !

wm^m\

256 The City Temple

Almighty God, Thy presence overflowetli all things. All things are
naked and open to Thine eyes. If we take the wings of the morning
and flee unto the uttermost parts of the earth, behold. Thou art there !
Thou art higher than all height, lower than all depth, and, behold, none
can take the measure of the breadth of Thine infinitude. We come before
Thee with a song of mercy and judgment ; for whilst Thou art a terrible
God — and it is a fearful thing to fall into Thy hands — Thy tender
mercies are over all Thy works. Thou renewest our strength in com-
passion ; Thou upholdest us by thy loving-kindness ; and every day Thou
dost vindicate Thy government to us, not by the greatness of Thy
power, but by the tenderness and persuasiveness of Thy love. We have
halted in the midst of wordly pursuits and ordinary engagements, that
we might bow the knee to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus ; that
we might pour out our song of thankfulness, and renew our spiritual
vigour by waiting patiently and lovingly upon God. May this morning
hour refresh us exceedingly upon our earthly pilgrimage. May our
strength be recovered ; may our peace be augmented ; may our hope be
brightened ; may our whole life be brought into truer harmony with
Thine ! Dry the tears of our sorrow. Be pitiful to us by reason of our
manifold infirmities. Give to us all the fulness of redeeming love, and
pardon our sin, for it is great. Wash us in the precious blood of the
Lord Jesus, the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sins of the world.
Whom Thou hast pardoned, do Thou also sanctify. To this end pour out
upon us the gift of the Holy Ghost, that He may reign in our under-
standing, control our will, purify our affections, and bring our being into
entire subjection to all Thy purposes. May there be nothing in us upon
which Thou canst not look with appoval. Sanctify us in body, soul, and
spirit. Abide with us ; reign in our life ; stablish Thy kingdom in our
souls ; put down every rival. Reign Thou whose right it is ! Amen.

The Czi

REPORT OF A DISCOURSE DELIVERED BY

JOSEPH PARKER,

In Poultry Chapel ^ on Thursday Morning, July 13, 1871.
(the eighty-ninth noonday service.)

THE PROFOUND INFLUENCE OF ONE LIFE.

" And Samuel spake unto all the house of Israel, saying, If ye do return unto the Lord
with all your hearts, then put away the strange gods and Ashtaroth from among you, and
prepare your hearts unto the Lord, and serve him only : and he will deliver you out of the
hand of the Philistines." — I Samuel, vii., 3.

AMUF,L is now in full office. Eli died when the messenger
told him that the Philistines had taken the ark. Up to this
time we have had no express communication from Samuel
himself From pregnant sentences, here and there, we have
known that he has all the while been moving in the right direction.
The Lord was with Samuel, and did not suffer any of his words to fall
unto the ground. " All Israel from Dan to Beersheba knew that
Samuel was established to be a prophet of the Lord." " And the Lord
revealed himself unto Samuel in Shiloh." "And the word of Samuel
came unto all Israel." These assurances indicate that Samuel, in his
comparative obscurity, has been steadfastly moving onward accorJin.;

F F

258 The City Temple

to the purpose of God. From this time we shall see more of him.
His position in this chapter is most conspicuous, and his deeds are most
instructive. Verily, in this case, the child was "father to the man." As
prophet of the Lord, Samuel's will was supreme; — all the main
features of the history derive their expression from the spirit of Samuel.
There is authority in his word, there is inspiration in his encouragement,
there is death in his frown. Under these circumstances you see how
naturally we are led this morning to meditate upon the profound influence
of one life. Such is our subject. We shall develope it, as God may
give us help, by reviewing the three remarkable attitudes in which we
find Samuel in the course of this chapter.

In the first place, look at the sublime attitude which Samuel assumed
in relation to the corruption of the faith. Samuel distinctly charged the
house of Israel with having gone astray firom the living God ; solemnly,
with the pathos of a godly tone, with the solemnity of a righteous,
indignant, yet pitiful heart, he said, " You have been guilty of high
crimes and misdemeanours against the God of heaven ; you have
tranipled underfoot your convictions and your traditions. You have
bowed yourselves before the altars of forbidden gods." Distinctly,
without reservation, without anything that indicated timidity on his
part, he laid this terrible indictment against the house of Israel. In
doing so he assumed a sublime attitude. He stood before Israel as a
representative of the God who had been insulted, dishonoured, aban-
doned. His was the only voice lifted up in the name of the true God.
It is in such cases that men show what stuff they are made of When
they stand face to face with the crowd, and say, " You are wrong ;" when
they mount the popular whirlwind, and say, " Your will is moving in the
wrong direction, — it is corrupt, debased, utterly foul, and bad ! " Is there a
grander spectacle anywhere on the earth than to see a lonely man con-
fronting a whole house and entire nation, and upbraiding the whole
company with a common apostacy — with a common determination to
go down to darkness and death ? Samuel said, " You must put away
Baalim," — a plural word, which stands for no god in particular, but for
all the progeny of false gods. " You must put away Ashtaroth," — a
plural word which signifies no goddess in particular, but the whole
company of feminine idols. " That is what you must do." I find
sublimity m the attitude, imperial force in the tone. How did Samuel's
influence come to be so profound upon this occasion ? The instant
answer is, Because his influence was moral. Moral influence goes to
the heart of things. He who deals with moral questions deals with the
life of the world. Any other influence addresses itself to affairs of the
moment ; all other influences are superficial and transitory. He who
repronounces God's commandments, and tells to the heart of the world
God's charges, wields a moral, and therefore a profound influence.
Sometimes we say that a man's intellectual influence has been pro-
found. There is a sense in which that is perfectly possible, and may be
really and gloriously true. But the heart is further in the man than the
intellect. He, therefore, who purifies the heart, brings the life up to
the right altitude and inspires it with the right purpose, does a work to

The Profound Influence of One Life, 259

which there is no end ; it is abiding as God's eternity, lustrous in its
degree as God's glory !

Herein is the supreme advantage of the gospel. The gospel of
Jesus Christ does not come to attend to any diseases that are merely
cutaneous ; the gospel of Jesus Christ does not engage to settle questions
that lie merely on the surface of society ; the gospel of Christ does not
undertake our local politics, and things that are little, contracted, and
perishing. The gospel of Christ lays his saving hand upon the human heart
and says, " This is the sphere of my mission. I will affect all things
that are superficial and local and temporary ; but I shall affect them
indirectly. By putting the life right I shall put the extremities right ; by
making the heart as it ought to be, the whole surface of nature shall
become healthful and beautiful." This^is the supreme advantage of the
minister of the gospel. A true servant of the Lord Jesus Christ has
little or nothing to do, directly, with the little, petty, fussy controversies
of the day. It is not his business to walk into heated committee rooms
and to discuss, with all learning and profundity, your shabby parochial
politics. The minister of Jesus Christ addresses man as man, and by
moving the heart he moves the will ; by enlightening the judgment, he
elevates the life. Having done that interior, moral, everlasting work,
there comes out of him, in all directions, the happiest influence in rela-
tion to things that are local and perishing. We shall fall from the great
ministry, if, forgetting the universal, we give our strength to the particu-
lar. We need men in society who stand apart from the little fights,
petty controversies, and angry contentions which seem to be part and
parcel of daily life, and who shall speak great- principles, breathe a
heavenly influence, and bring to bear upon combatants of all kinds
considerations which shall survive all their misunderstandings. Regard
Samuel in this light, and you will see the sublimity of his attitude. He
stands alone ; on the other side of him is the whole house of Israel.
It would be a much easier thing for him, viewed merely from the out-
side and in relation to the passing hour, to say, " We are all brethren ;
you have gone wrong, I must allow ; but I don't think I should be harsh
with you. Hail, fellows well met ! let bygones be bygones, and from
this day let us enjoy ourselves." But no man's will is merely personal
when he speaks for God. Samuel would have no right to say, " I am
setting up my little personal judgment and will against yours." He was
the medium on which the infinite Heart broke into language, and through
which the infinite purpose caused itself to be heard in all the indigna-
tion proper to its outrage, in all the pathos becoming the infinite com-
passion of God !

Herein, again, is the great influence of a moral teacher, a revealer
of christian truth. Whenever I hear a preacher who speaks the right
word, I hear God the Father, God" the Son, God the Holy Ghost ;
through his voice I hear the testimony of the angels unfallen ; out of
his words there comes the declaration of all that is bright, pure, true,
wise, in the universe of God !

In the next place, look at the holy attitude which Samuel assumed in
relation to the guilt of Israel. Samuel said, " Gather all Israel to
Mizpeh, and I will pray for you unto the Lord." In the first instance

iSo The City Temple

his attitude was sublime ; the lonely man speaking the charge of God to
an apostate nation. In this instance his attitude is holy. Because
having charged the people in the name of God, condemned them in the
interests of righteousness, and called them to purity of worship, he
says, " If you will gather yourselves together I will pray for you." This
is the secret of great influence : indignation — calmness, — righteousness
incorruptible and inexorable, — devoutness that stoops to pray for the
fallen, the foul, the evil-minded, and the debased. Samuel was not
borne away by anger and fury ; he did not give way even to judicial
vengeance. In the first instance he describes the corruptness of the
case, points out the right course, exhorts the people to take that course
instantly, and then he speaks these healing words, " If ye will do these
things and gather yourselves together to Mizpeh, I will pray unto the
Lord for you." See the fulness of the meaning of such words as these,
as used by such a man, under circumstances so distinctive and impres-
sive ! " I will pray unto the Lord for you." Then the highest man in
the church is but a priest, a prophet, an agent, an instrument. Not,
" Gather all Israel to Mizpeh, and there I will pronounce the word of
absolution for you." Samuel lays no claim to any position, so far as
this case is concerned, but that of a suppliant who has influence with
God. That is all we can do for one another, — the work of an instru-
ment, the ministry of an agent. Did I say all? Did I pronounce the
word all as if I were contemning its significance ? Did I, in a moment
of forgetfulness, say the word all as if it were but an empty mono-
syllable ? Why, what is there more than that ? To understand the
the world's case, — to comprehend the terrible results of the world's
apostacy, — to reproach, rebuke, and exhort in the name of God, — and
then to gather the world we have branded with God's condemnation
and pray for it unto the God of Heaven ! When a man has done that
he has exhausted his resources ; he has done more — he has moved
Omnipotence towards condescension and redemption !

"I will pray for you unlo the Lord." Then the humun needs the
divine. We never find — taking great breadths of history, ages and
centuries — that the human has been able to exist alone, and to grow
upward and onward in its atheism.- We do find hours in which atheism
seems to carry everything its own way. There are occasions in human
history when God seems to be utterly deposed, when a whole nation
has got up and out-voted God, emptied heaven, brought down the sky
to the dust ; but never lifted up the dust to the sky ! Observe that such
periods have been but occasional ; they have always been transitory,
and in proportion to the length of their duration has there afterwards
gone up a cry to God, that he would come back again. If he would
but once more show his face, the men who repudiated his existence and
renounced his name "Would dash their idols at his feet, and call them
gods no more." What is true in nations is true in individuals. Is there
any man here who has not been living for God ? You have not been living
upward. You have been living; you have not changed your address; people
have recognized your physical features ; but you have not been going up
in the quality of your being, — your pathos has not become tenderer,
your charity has not become purer, your nobility has not enhanced itself.

The Profound Injluence of One Life. 261

It is a plain thing to say to a man's face, but I will say it, yet not I but
the whole Triune God and all history, — when a man lives without
religion — I will not say irreligiously, as if he were profane and blasphe-
mous, in the ordinary sense of those terms — his life is a diminishing
quantity ; he goes down in the volume and quality of his being.

Israel was gathered together to Mizpeh. The Philistines, the enemies
of the house of Israel, having heard that Israel had gathered together to
Mizpeh, the lords of the Philistines went up against Israel. Ol^serve,
Israel was gathered at a prayer meeting. That is a modern expression,
1 believe, and not much in favour with men who are " advanced." I
don't know what they are "advanced" in, and perhaps it is better on
the whole not to enquire. The Philistines went up against Israel con-
gregated for a devotional purpose ; an'd when the children of Israel
heard it they were afraid of the Philistines. And the children of Israel
said to Samuel, " Cease not to cry unto the Lord our God for us."
What became of the Philistines ? The Philistines had won many vic-
tories ; they had proved their prowess in arms as against the house of
Israel ; they had taken the ark of God when Israel resorted to the
formal rather than to the spiritual. Now that Israel is getting its old
heart back again, and its eyes are being turned to the heavens, what
becomes of the Philistines ? The Lord thundered that day upon
the Philistines, and discomfitted them, and they were smitten before
Israel.

" And the men of Israel went out of Mizpeh, and pursued the Philistines, and smote
them, until they came under Beth-car." — ii.

I find a great law here. To some minds this must, of course, be
sentimental. To men who have seen prayer under certain aspects and
circumstances,^ — who have known godly persons, hard driven in life,
unable to conduct a successful struggle, and yet who have been praying all
the time. — this must appear to be little better than mockery. But
some of us have known precisely the same thing under a different class
of circumstances leading to the same gracious and undeniable results.
The Philistines came against a praying army. Not Avhat the praying
army did in the first instance, but what God did, must we consider.
The Lord thundered, and the Philistines were deafened ; the Lord
touched the heads of the Philistinian army, and they went crazy ; the
Lord wielded liis hand before the eyes of the Philistinian leaders, and
they were blind ! It is nothing to Him to save whether there be many
or few.

In this case it does not appear from the text that he took the
rod of his lightning and utterly discomfited the Philistines. He
thundered ! AVhen God's voice rolls over human life, it is either a
benediction of infinite peace or a malediction no human force can turn
aside. Observe when it was that Samuel said he would pray for the
house of Israel. The great lesson here turns upon a point of time.
When Israel returned unto the Lord with all their heart ; when Israel
put away the strange gods and Ashtaroth ; when Israel prepared the
heart unto the Lord and was ready to sti\e him only ; wlien Israel had
done this part, then Samuel said, '■ I will pray for you unto the Lord."

262 The City Temple

Under other circumstances prayer would have been wasted breath.
I find a great law here, which applies to the natural and the spiritual.
Is there a plague in the city? Purify your sanitary arrangements,
cleanse your drains, disinfect your channels, use everything that is at all
Hkely to conduce to a good end, — then I. will pray for you unto the
Lord. After nature has exhausted herself, there may be something for
the Lord to do, may there not ? Who are we ? Where did we obtain
our education ? Who put us up just one inch above the infinite that
we might be able to say to God, " Now the people have done everything
there is nothing for Thee to do." Who are we ? A man ought to have
a good many certificates, credentials, and testimonials before he is able
to establish a status which will justify him in suggesting that when all
fiatura/ processes have been exhausted, God cannot do anything. What
if God should be just one iota wiser than we are ? What if after we
have exhausted the resources of our skill and the eftbrts of our strength,
God might be able to say, " See, there is one more thing to be done.''
It would not be according very much to God, would it ? Blessed are
they who believe that after they have exhausted themselves, God can
do exceeding abundantly above all that they ask or think !

Sometimes worldly people say to us, very rashly indeed — observe,
I only say sometimes — " Pray for us." Men have said that to me.
What kind of men were they ? Sometimes men who had made wrecks
of themselves, who had gone as far devilward as they could get, whose
hearts were like a den of unclean beasts, men who had no longer any
grip of the world — the whole thing was slipping away from them — they
have said to me, who would have been characterised twenty years
before as a canting parson, " Pray for us." But one condition must be
forthcoming on their part. There must be not only consciousness of
loss, and consciousness that they can't fight God any longer, and that
their next step will be into the jaws of the devil ! There must be more
than that. There must be self-renunciation, contrition, moral anguish,
pain of the soul, repentance towards God. When these conditions are
forthcoming, the servant of Christ may say, " I will pray for you unto
the Lord."

In the third place, look at the exalted attitude which Samuel
assumes in relation to his whole lifetime. You read in the fifteenth
verse of this chapter, "Samuel judged Israel all the days of his life."
Think of being able to account for all the days of a whole human his-
tory ! Think of being able to write your biography in one sentence I
Think of being able to do without parentheses, footnotes, reservations,
apologies, and self-vindications ! When some of us attempt to write
our lives, there is so much to say that is collateral and modifying in its
effect, — so much which is to explain the central line. When we have
Written our biography, we have seen great blank spaces — we do not
know what we did then ; we have seen great black patches, and we
have known that these indicated service of the devil ; we have seen
blurred, blotched pages, with erasures and interlineations, and we have
said, " This reminds us of the daily and terrible mistakes of our life."
So our book becomes an anomalous, contradictory, irreconcileable thing.
Here is a man whose Hfetime is gathered up in one sentence.

The Profound Influence of One Life. 162

" Samuel judged Israel all the days of his life." We have seen him in
his childhood, we have had glances of him as he was passing up to his
mature age. To-day we see him in three impressive and remarkable
attitudes. His whole history is in this sentence : He was a judge of
God all his days. Think of giving a whole life time to God. Some of
us cannot do that now. But I see some young faces here, and this
reminds me that you may be able to give twenty, thirty, perhaps fifty
years a// to Christ. Fifty years in succession ; no break, no marring
interruption, — half a century given to Christ ! There are some old grey-
haired men here. Perhaps some of them are not within the circle that
is divine ; some of them may not be numbered amongst the members of
the redeemed family, and now all that you can give is just the fag-end
of your life. Death can't be long in meeting you ! Perhaps next year
only, — perhaps to-morrow. The young //lay die, the old mt/st You
may only have six weeks left ; you had better give them than not give
anything at all.

" While the lamp holds out to burn,
The vilest sinner may return."

There was a thief saved on the Cross, but only one thiet.

See then the profound influence which may be exerted by one life.
We are dealing with Samuel, and with Samuel alone. Samuel's life is
not confined to himself; it is a radiating life, streaming out from itself
and touching thousands of points in the social and national life of others.
AVho can tell what may be done by one man ? I shall not quote the
testimony of a friend on this point, because he might be partial in his
judgment. But once an enemy gave explicit testimony upon this point,
and we shall accept his words just as he himself gave them. His name
was Demetrius ; he was an idol maker ; trade was slipping out of his
fingers fast ; he was not making so many gods as usual ; and he spake to
the people of the city in these words : " Ye see and hear that not alone
at Ephesus, but almost throughout all Asia, this Paul persuadeth and
turneth away much people, saying, That they be no gods which are
made with hands." It was a valuable testimony. It was an enemy
writing the report of the church for the past year. It was the devil in
Exeter Hall, reading a secretarial report of what one man had done.
This Paul ! Not ten thousand Pauls, not a great army of Pauls, but
one little man, with an immeasurably great soul, was not only working
mightily in Ephesus against idolatry, but throughout all Asia ! What
one life can do. Don't despise yourself ; don't say, "My Httle infl!u-
ence is of no avail." Every man can be intense, though only few
men can be extensive in influence. The father upon the house, the
head of the business in his own establishment, the friend among his
friends, the mother in the nursery, — each life can have a speciality of
intensity in these high matters. Friend, wouldst thou wield profound,
eternal influence ? Help the souls of men ; get away from things that are
superficial, local and self-contained ! Speak the truth of God, and
eternity itself cannot exhaust the happy eftect of thy blessed influence !

264 The City Temple

Almighty God, Thou settest up and Thou bringest down, as servants
of Thy Church and ministers of Thy will, whom Thou pleasest,
according to a counsel we cannot understand. Thou hast made the
stone which the builders refused the head stone of the corner ; Thou
hast past over the wise and the mighty, the noble and the great, and
Thou hast revealed Thy secret unto babes. Who can resist the call of
the Lord ? Who shall answer, but with all his love, the appeal and
challenge of the Most High ? Impress each of us with a deep sense of
personal responsibility, which can be measured only by the gifts which
Thou hast bestowed upon us and the opportunities with which Thou
hast blessed us. May the servant entrusted with five talents, and the
servant entrusted with but one, each do his Lord's will with simplicity,
diligence, and all the homage of the soul ! Save us from all uncharita-
bleness in regard to one another ; trom all envy and malice ; from all
censoriousness and unfriendliness. May each esteem other better than
himself; may the strong bear the infirmities of the weak ; may the aged
prophets be gentle and tender towards Thy young servants ; and may
those who are youthful in the Church of Christ have within them sense
of veneration, confidence, and respect in regard to those who have
borne the burden and heat of the day. Establish us all in the counsel
and service of Christ. May we love the Saviour with all our heart and
soul and mind and strength. May the supreme joy of our life be to
uphold the rights of His crown arid to explain the mystery of His Cross.
Let Thy blessing now descend upon us, that we may have life more
abundantly, that our peace may pass understanding, that our joy may
be unspeakable and full of glory. Shed light where there is darkness.
Send the delivering word to souls held in the captivity of the enemy.
Turn those wliose faces are turned away from the living God and the
eternal light. This day may our hearts lift themselves up towards their
Father in praise, in thanktulness, in hope ! Amen.

The City Temple.

REPORT OF A DISCOURSE DELIVERED BY

JOSEPH PARKER,

In Poultry Chapel , on Thursday Mornings July 10, 1871.
(the ninetieth noonday service.)

MAKING A KING.

" Make us a king to judge us like all the nations." — I Samuel, viii., 5.

^]E have seen Israel defeated, almost destroyed, in war with
the Philistines. We have seen Israel in extremity, prostrate
before Almighty God, and crying mito Him, in intolerable
woe, for interposition in the time of torment and hopeless-
ness. The prayer has been responded to, and Israel has been revived.
A new hope has cheered the hearts of those who prayed unto the Lord
of Heaven. In the revival of strength Israel has become political. A
new idea has occurred to the leaders of the people, namely, — that a
king should be required and should be set over Israel, that Israel might
be like all other nations. That seems a very reasonable request, as
viewed Irom a certain point. It becomes us, therefore, to look at it the
more carefully ; because, if so-called reasonable requests be followed by
G G

i66 The City Temple

the disasters whirh accrued upon the prayer before us, it becomes a
matter of infinite moment that we should know the significance of the
Avords we use and the full compass of the desires which we express.
Truly this is a chapter of incident ; the movement is rapid from begin-
ning to end. Let us watch it; and let us gather together, so far as we
may be able, the great principles with which this graphic chapter is so
fully charged. The elders of Israel said unto Samuel, " Behold, thou
art old, and thy sons walk not in thy ways ; now make us a king to
judge us like all the nations." The people of Israel, you observe, were
extremely particular about the morality of other people. They had
facts on their side. Samuel's sons did not walk in their father's ways,
but turned aside after lucre, took bribes, and perverted judgment.
When the elders of Israel saw this apostacy on the part of the sons of
Samuel, they said, " Let us do away with this race of men altogether,
and have a crowned head to reign over us, that we may be like the
other nations of the earth." Let us then do full justice to the elders of
Israel. As a matter of public notoriety, Samuel's sons were not like
Samuel himself in their moral tone and in their moral example. This
brings before us a sad and humiliating fact, — that the children of great
men and of good men are not always worthy of their parentage. Few
things can be more humiliating to a high nature, to a christian philan-
thropist, than to find that his public work is undone in the very circle
within which his own influence ought to have been most intense ; that
he, who is instrumental in doing so much good abroad, should actually
have to come home to find what sin is in its utmost keenness, in its
intolerable bitterness. Sometimes public man may be to blame for
this in some degree. They may have to say, " Other vineyards have I
kept ; my own vineyard I have not kept." They may be more fitted
for public teaching and public stimulus than for private utterance of
truth and domestic control of life. This ought to be carefully under-
stood before we venture to pronounce judgment upon such men, who
in their own hearts feel a greater bitterness than it would be possible for
us by our mere reproaches to infuse into them. There are men who
can speak to a thousand hearers, who are utterly weak and powerless
when they come into the details of common life and have to teach a
single child at home, and show the light of God upon the private paths
of life. Others there may be who turn their public excitement into a
temptation to go astray from plain, simple home duty. They have the
ability ; they are lacking in will. They can only show themselves upon
public platforms, within great arenas of display ; they are moved by
public, rather than by intensely personal and moral considerations.
Consequently, their own garden-wall is broken down, their own little
flower-bed at home is all weed-grown, whilst they are busy with the
great public fields and the great vineyards of the world. I would not
speak harshly of such fathers : but if there be anything in these
suggestions, and if anyone here should require a hint of the kind,
tenderly, with self-restraint and brotherly forbearance, I would venture
to say. Think of this ; and, if you can improve, remember that now
is the accepted time ; you cannot too soon begin the work of family
cultivation.

Making a King id-j

This brings before us the equally remarkable fact, that grace is not
hereditary. When you see a good man you expect his children to be
like himself But grace does not descend in the family line. The father
may be an apostle, the son may be a blasphemer. There are circum-
stances, I cannot doubt, in which at the very moment that the father has
been preaching the gospel, his own son, whom he loved as his life, has
been leading some profane engagement, has been blaspheming the name
of the God of his fathers ! This is very mysterious, inexpressibly pain-
ful, most disheartening to the man who wants to live a simple, godly,
sincere, useful life. The fact is overbearing. I may now be addressing
the son of a godly man. Your father's godliness will not save you ; your
fathers godliness abused on your part, disregarded by you, will augment
the wrath from which you shall one day suffer. It is one of many talents
given to you ; and to whom much has been given, from him shall much
be expected. He that had the opportunity and the privilege, and
abused what he had, shall be — it is the voice of justice, common-sense,
and righteousness — beaten with many stripes. AVhy should it be thought
a thmg incredible, or why should it be a thing invested with tormenting
mystery, that a child should not inherit the father's piety ? It is precisely
the same with intellectual gifts in many cases ; it is the same with
physical endowments in many instances. You will find, again and
again, a great man, a man of wondrous compass of mind, great and
manifold ability, whose son is of a very ordinary type of intellect. It is
wonderful, — but there is no occasion why we should torture it into a
mystery, and look at it as one of those things which should affright us
from the religious or the devotional side of life. We have not to explain
these things. We may pause before them and learn much from them ;
but the explanation is not with us at all.

It is important to gather all these things together in order that the
case of the elders of Israel may be turned as much to their advantage
as we possibly can. What my object is in thus defending them you will
presently see. The elders of Israel had a case. They were concerned
for the nation ; they saw the two sons of Samuel going astray from their
father's paths ; they came to the man when he was old, and told him
about the apostacy of his sons. They said, " Make us a king to judge
us like all the nations." If ever men apparently had a simple, straight-
forward, common-sense case, the elders of Israel had such a case in the
chapter which is now before us. Samuel heard this statement, and the
thing displeased him. No man likes to see his whole life disregarded,
and his tower thrown away ruthlessly. Samuel was a man in advanced
life, identified vitally with the religious and political fortunes of Israel ;
had his hopes with regard to the future ; drew out of his own life the hopes
by which he was animated. Now suddenly the elders of Israel say,
" We wish to dispossess all who may be supposed to have any claim
upon us through your agency and instrumentality ; we wish to open a
new political era in Israel." No man likes to see the tower of his hfe
thrown down in that way. I have sympathy with old ministers who have
old-world notions ; who view with what appears to younger men an almost
ungenerous suspicion and distrust what they call new-fangled notions
and methods of doing things. After all, there is a good deal of human

268 The City Temple

nature and common-sense in the old man's view of the changes which
are proposed to him. He started from a given point ; he has worked along
a certain line ; a man cannot disinherit and dispossess himself of all his
own learning, culture, traditions, and associations, and go back again or
go forward into the infancy of new and startling movements. It would
be well if some of us could learn this more profoundly. Young Englandism
must be very distasteful to old Samuels, high priests, and venerable
prophets. We shall show our strength by showing our moderation ; we
shall be most mighty when we are most yielding !

Samuel told the Lord about it. This is very startling to some of us
who live miles and miles away from God. These old men seemed
always to be living, as it were, next door to him, and had but to whisper
and they were heard. These little sentences come in so abruptly. I
read, " And Samuel prayed unto the Lord." Not, he ordered a great long
ladder to be made in the course of the next seven years, that he might
set it up against heaven, and creep up to it round by round. " And
Samuel prayed unto the Lord." It is a kind of breathing process, it is
ready, spontaneous as love. Samuel turned towards the elders of Israel,
heard their story, then just turned his face about and told God concerning
the whole thing. It is a wonderful kind of life, — God always so nigh at
hand. Will he not be equally nigh at hand to-day ? Has he still to be
roared for as if he had hidden himself beyond the voice of the thunder^-
or is he nigh at hand so that a sigh can reach him, and a whisper can
stir his omnipotence into beneficent interposition on behalf of his
sorrowing, suffering people ? Why, it would be a new life to us if we
knew that God beset us behind and before, laid his hand upon us, and
that not a throb of our heart escaped the ear of his love !

Samuel saw the outside of the case. Samuel saw, what we now call,
theyh'^i' of the case j God saw the truth of it. Many persons do not
distinguish between fact and truth. Why, there is all the difference in
the world between fact and truth. Fact is the thing done, the thing
visible, the thing that has shape, and that can be approached and
touched. The truth underlies it. You must get at the truth before you
can understand the fact itself. This is ever necessary, but specially
needful where the case is complicated by profoundly ;/wrrt'/ considerations.
The Lord explained the case to Samuel. He said, in effect, " Thou art
quite mistaken ; the matter is not as thou dost view it ; looked at from
thy point, the elders of Israel seem to have a very strong and excellent
case. But Samuel, the elders of Israel have rejected me, they have not
rejected thee. They are only making a tool of thee ; thou art become to
them a mere convenience, or as it were a scapegoat. They profess to
be very deeply concerned about the moral apostacy of thy sons ; they do
not care one pin-point about it ; but they are very glad to have that ; they
are extremely glad to be able to seize anything that will seem to give a
good colouring to their case. Samuel, Israel has cast off its God. Is
it wonderful, then, that Israel should cast off the servant ? " What an
explanation this is ! how it goes to the root and core ! how it cleaves open
the life of man, and holds up in the sunny universe a corrupt soul, that
all men may see it and know that the heart is deceitful above all things
and desperately wicked ! What a subject opens upon us here ! The

Making a King 269

great world of excuses, social explanations, the faces which things are
made to wear, the visors and disguises which are set upon life in order to
conceal its corruption, its leprosy, its death. Truly the word of God is
sharp and powerful, sharper than a two-edged sword ! It will not let a
man alone ; it will not allow a man to tell his own story, and go away as
if he had exhausted the case. He is permitted to state the circumstances,
to make his own advocacy of given questions, to put the question
before society just as he pleases. But when he sits down, this word that
searches the heart and goes through the life like a flaming fire says,
" Now I will tell you what it is ; you have made an excuse into a reason,
you have lied, not unto me, but unto the Holy Ghost, unto God ! Villain,
your case looks well. I open thee now, I cleave through thee, I pour
the sunlight through every fibre of thy leprous being, I brand thee liar
and blasphemer ! " It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the
living God !

Here, for example, is an individual who has a most excellent case.
He goes to his minister, and he says to him in a whine, which soft men
may mistake for earnestness, " I really can't remain here any longer,
sir. I have seen so much inconsistency in the members of the church,
I have seen so much that has pained me, I have felt grieved at the in-
consistency of professing christians ; therefore, I am going to turn over
a new page, and I must withdraw from the church." He was so pained !
VVHiat that poor creature carried in the way of other people's immorali-
ties, no arithmetic will ever calculate, no poetry will ever dream ! When
he has told his tale, and impressed the poor minister, who believes well
of everybody in proportion as he does not know human nature, God
says to him, " This is the case. That man would not care one farthing if
all the church were to prove traitorous to-morrow ; that man, who has
suffered so much pain, who has been so troubled about the inconsistencies
of professing christians, is now planning sin secretly in his soul; if I could
show thee by taking off, fold after fold, thou wouldst see in his heart what
he has never said to his wife or mother a child or friend ; thou would
see there a determination to enjoy sin under some disguise. He wants
to get clear of moral restraint, of social disipline ; he wants to evade
public opinion, that he may, in concealment and under such defence as
secrecy may set up, enjoy sin as he has never enjoyed it before. Mark
him, going away yonder, bearing the inconsistencies and immoralities of
other people! He is now going to carry out the very first step of his
plan— to enjoy the works of iniquity, sources of forbidden pleasure as he
never partook of them before." So there are two judgments in the world.
Man makes out his own case, God comes with the explanation. Man
cheats man with outside appearances ; afterwards God holds the light
over the case. All things are naked and open unto the eyes of him,
with whom we have to do !

Here is a minister of the gospel, who says he is going to withdraw
from the ministry and retire in'o private life. He has been so annoyed
by circumstances which have arisen around him ; he has been so fretted
and chafed by a multitude of things, that he can no longer endure
them ; and now he is going to enjoy the retirement of private life. That
is his statement. What does it amount to ? He is going to run away

270 The City Temple

because there are some difficulties in life. As if he ever could get into
any sphere in this world where difficulty would not call upon him, and
force its attention upon his reluctant soul ! Has the man told all the
case? has he not kept back part of the price ? is he not rather arranging
his circumstances so that he can sin with larger license, — that he can do
things in private life which he dare not do under the responsibilities of
a public position ? Brethren, these words cut like daggers and search
like fire ! God forbid they should have any application to us !

The Lord told Samuel to make the people a king. " Hear tbem, do
what they ask, hearken unto their voice : howbeit yet protest solemnly
unto them, and shew them the manner of the king that shall reign over
them." This is an instruction that we should do well to carry out in all
life. There are times when we are pressed into certain courses ; when
all we can do is to protest. Sometimes when a man is weak then is he
strong. The lifting, the half-lifting of a tremulous hand means — when
interpreted by God's wisdom — battle, battle to the bloody end, protest,
vehement opposition ! It is a feeble sign ; but the meaning of that
poor, broken hand being lifted up is, that if the man could do that
which is in his soul he would stem the torrent of the popular will and
set up righteousness in the earth ! The Lord instructed Samuel what
to say. Listen to the speech which was made to the elders of Israel : —

" And he said, This will be the manner of the king that shall reign over you : He will
take your sons, and appoint them for himself, for his chariots, and to be his horsemen ; and
some shall run before his chariots. And he will appoint him captains over thousands, and
captains over fifties ; and will set them to ear his ground, and to reap his harvest, and to make
his instruments of war, and instruments ot his chariots. And he will take your daughters to be
confectionaries, and to be cooks, and to be bakers. And he will take your fields, and your
vineyards, and your oliveyards, even the best of them, and give them to his servants. And he
will take the tenth of j'our seed, and of your vineyards, and give to his officers, and to his
servants. And he will take your menservants and your maidservants, and your goodliest young
men, and your asses, and put them to his work. He will take the tenth of your sheep : and
ye shall be his servants. And ye shall cry out in that day because of your king which ye shall
have chosen you ; and the Lord will not hear you in that day."

What then ? When they heard the speech they said, " Nay, but we
will have a king over us." Observe how men can fight their way,
when so determined, though all the warnings that even God can send.
We should have supposed that the elders of Israel, in whose heads was
lodged the wisdom of the people, — the men of sagacity, penetration, and
self-control, — on hearing these words from the Lord's prophet would
instantly have said, " Then do we repent of the sin of our request : God
shall continue, if his mercy will so incline, to be our king for ever."
Instead of that, they hear the warning, they see the thunderbolts, the
whole future is depicted to them in words which have not two significa-
tions. As the result of the whole they lift up their voices and say, " We
will have a king to reign over us." Do we condemn them ? Do not be
ready with reproach ; do not be urgent in condemnation. We are doing
a deadlier thing, it may be, than the elders of Israel did in this case. We
are told that God is angry with the wicked every day ; that the wicked
shall be driven into hell and all the nations that forget God. We are told
that the liar shall have his portion in the lake which burneth with

Making a King 271

fire and brimstone, that no drunkard shall enter the kingdom of heaven,
that anything that is unclean, defiled, or corrupt, shall not pass into the
city of God's light ; we are told that nothing remaineth for the sinner
but a fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation. All the
terrors of the Lord are thundered from time to time upon the people.
What is the result ? Men can go immediately from hearing or reading
the most terrific statements concerning the future of the wicked, and can
throw themselves with unbridled license into all the diabolical enjoyments
which stimulate but never satisfy the corrupt soul ! By so much as you
condemn Israel, you condemn the sinner. It may be that in pronouncing
the elders of Israel foolish and criminal, you write yourselves worthy of
the condemnation of God !

Observe, man can have his way. There is a point at which even .
God withdraws from the contest. " My spirit shall not always strive
with men." If we be so minded — now let me publish this with a dis-
tinct, loud, clear voice that all souls may hear it and understand — we
can force our way through all solemn warning, all pathetic entreaty, all
earnest persuasiveness on the part of friend, wife, husband, teacher,
preacher, God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Ghost ! We can go
to hell if we will ! So don't be discouraged, you can get there ! Don't »
be discouraged, there is nothing before you but love, grace, mercy,
tenderness, God. That is all. There is a grim ghastly Cross, — hew it
down ! There is a way round it, a way through it, a way over it, — you
can get there ! Fool, coward ! Not go to hell ?

You see the childishness of the reasoning by which they supported
their case. " That we," said the elders of Israel " may be like all the
nations ; may be like other people." Why, that is what the young man
says when he is hard pressed. When he wishes to throw off family i
restraint, when he wishes to get away from family prayer, family reading
of the Bible and domestic superintendence, he says, " I want to be as
other men are ; other young men of my age have this privilege and
that privilege, and I just want to be like other men." That is very
reasonable on your part. Is that all, my friend? Be true to thyself;
don't tell lies to thyself If thou hast Hes to tell, why not tell them
aloud— tell them to other people ; why tell lies to thine own heart ?
To say it is only this I want, whereas thou knowest well, in thy heart
of hearts, that it is some terrible wickedness to which thou wishest to
give way.

Friends, in summing up this reading, let me say that where the
disease is vital, the remedy must be vital too. Nothing will reach this
kind of thing but the mediation of God the Son. It is not a speck of
dust which any hand can rub off. The disease is in the heart, the
poison is in the blood. The death — I speak, you may imagine,
paradoxically, but with aAvful, grim terrible truth — the death is
in the life. What will reach it ? The blood of the Son of God,
the agony of Gethsemane, the atonement of Calvary, the wondrous
unspeakable, glorious work of Jesus Christ, Son of God, God the Son !
Nothing else will reach it. Every other remedy is cutaneous, is transitory.
The remedy of Christ's Cross, Christ's atonement, is vital, and is
therefore eternal ! i speak as unto wise men, judge ye what I say !

272 The City Temple

Almighty God, Thy claim upon our worship is unceasing, for Thy
mercy, Hke Thy majesty, endureth for ever. Thou dost never withhold
Thine hand from giving good gifts unto Thy children. As Thou hast
made them in Thine own image and likeness, and hast implanted within
them desires which the world can never satisfy, so Thou dost specially
reveal Thyself unto them day by day, appeasing their hunger with bread
from heaven, and quenching their thirst with water our of the river of
God. Oftentimes have we said concerning Thy Son, " We will not
have this man to reign over us." But when we have tasted the bitterness
of sin, and have been convinced of our own emptiness and helplessness,
when heart and flesh have failed, when by the ministry of Thy Holy
Spirit we have come to understand somewhat of thine own holiness and
mercy and love, our hearts' desire has been that Jesus might sit upon
the throne of our love, and rule our whole life ; that he might be King
of Kings, and Lord of Lords, our Redeemer the Mighty One of Israel.
We desire to live unto the glory of God, to understand the meaning of the
gift of life with which we have been blessed. Thou hast entrusted us
with solemn responsibilities ; enable us to understand their meaning, to
feel their pressure, and to respond with all our hearts to their de-
mands. Let Thy blessing rest upon us whilst we are here this morning.
May this house be unto us as the gate of heaven ; may weary souls
recover their strength and tone. May desponding hearts be revived
and comforted with the consolation of God. May worldly minds be
given to feel that there is a world higher than the present ; that round
about us is the great sea of Thine eternity ! May we be prepared for all
the future, having our hearts saved through the blood of Jesus Christ. We
depend upon Thy Holy Spirit ; we will not look unto our own resources
except as they present themselves as the gifts of God. We will rely
upon Thy power ; we will cry mightily unto our God ! Thou wilt hear
us ; Thou wilt redeem our souls from all fear ; Thou wilt inspire us
with immortal hope ; Thou wilt clothe us with adequate power. Cleanse
our hearts by the precious blood of the Lord Jesus. Show to us,
more and more, the meaning of the mystery of his dear Cross. May we
find all that is deepest and truest in our own life, symbolised in that
Cross of Jesus. May it be the answer to our sin, the remedy of our
diseases, the one hope of our wondering and anxious souls ! Amen.

SPECIAL NOTE.

The Thursday Service will be suspended from July 27th until
September 28th, 1871. On the latter date t/ie Service will be resumed.
During the suspension of the noonday services the weekly numbers of
The City Temple will be issued as usual, — one penny each. The first
number of the monthly Series (see advertisement on cover) will be ready
on Thursday, September 28th.

The City Temple.

REPORT OF A DISCOURSE DELIVERED BY

JOSEPH PARKER,

hi Poultry Chapel^ on Thursday Mornings July 27, 1871.

(the ninety-first noonday service.)

JOY INDEPENDENT OF FIGS.

"Although the fig tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines; the labour
of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield no meat ; the flock shall be cut off from the
fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls : Yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the
God of my salvation." — Habakkuk, iii., 17, 1 8,

HE religious argument may be started from an external point.
As, for example, from a fig tree, a vine, an olive, or a field.
There is a theology that is natural ; there is also a theology
that is spiritual. Suppose you talk to a doubting or un-
believing man in the presence of a plant, you might put your case thus :
" Look at this plant. How beautiful in form, in colour, how pro-
ductive, how adapted to the necessities of man ! Can you look at this
plant and deny the power, the wisdom, the goodness of God ? " '

H H

274 77?^ City Temple

Suppose the observer to yield the argument thus far : "I cannot look at
that plant without feeling that there must be a Creator, a Designer ; I
cannot look upon the wheat-fields, upon the gardens and meadows of
the world, and observe the works of nature, without feeling at least
that there must be something more than we see." That is the man's
lesson in the alphabet. So long as you keep these things before him,
you at all events trouble his infidelity, and you constrain him to make
acknowledgments, though they be made with some reluctance. That
is elementary. Keep him standing in the midst of the wheat-field, and
he will be a deist at least. The christian comes to him and says, " I
have a higher faith than yours. Although there be no fig tree, no olive,
no wheat-field — though summer should forget to come — my faith will
not be touched ; I will still rejoice in the Lord and joy in the God of
my salvation." You see the difference between the two men. The
man with all these works of nature before him simply cannot, without
convicting himself of the direst folly, deny that there must be something
more than is seen. He cannot go much further than that. But, you
see, his faith is dependent upon figs. Wither the wheat-field, and you
wither his faith ! He is but a natural theologian. Set fire to the earth,
and you set fire to his faith, — you have made an end of him ! But the
christian thinker, christian observer, says, " I don't build my faith upon
these things. Although there be no more of this natural beauty, not
until God himself is dispossessed of his godhead shall my faith be im-
paired, shall my joy be diminished ! " The man who says so may be
mad. That is not the point at present. We shall return to that in a
moment.

You may start the argument from the human body. Anything will
do to start the religious argument from, if you have to deal with people
who are yet in the alphabet, and can only read words of one syllable,
and who know that. The great difficulty is this : Sometimes people who
can only read a syllable at a time, and that with immense labour, imagine
themselves quite refined readers. It is a great difficulty. There is no
disease so difficult to cure as madness. Start the argument from the
human body. Look at your constitution ; inquire into your own physi-
ology ; see its complications, and yet its marvellous simplicity ; how
beautifully it is adapted to secure the end for which it is made. Can
you look at the functions of your own body and yet doubt the wisdom,
power, and goodness of the Supreme Being ? Suppose the man to yield
the argument again, and to talk in this way : "I confess that I myself,
in my physical constitution, am the first argument in support of deism.
When I come back to myself from my theorising and speculations, I my-
self stand between myself and the darkness of atheism. I allow that."
Habakkuk comes to him and says, " You are reading the alphabet ; you
have got a very little way in the great literature of God's existence and
providence. Though this body should pine away, wither, and hasten to
the chambers of death, yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the
God of my salvation. My dying hand shall lift the fragment of a blade ;
my last word shall be victory ! " So long as a man stands before himself,
looks at his own finger, any one faculty or function of his body, he is
saved from atheism. But impair himself and you impair his faith. Alter,

Joy Independent of Figs 275

if you can, his physiology, and you alter his theology along with it.
Ilabakkuk says : " Man ! my theology is not a question of physiology.
Though He slay me, yet will I trust in Him. I am more than body :
I find God in the depths of my subjective Hfe." So, then, there are two
classes oi faith. The faith that reads the big letters of figs, vines, olives,
fields, flocks, herds ; the faith that sees beyond the letter into the living
spirit, and that cannot be shaken with anything that is external.

I have said a man may be mad. There is a madness without which
the world could not live ; a species of enthusiasm, glowing life, without
Avhich the world would be poor, worthless. We need a man, here and
there, to lead the world's singing. How many people there are who
could not, for their lives, raise a tune, but who would not for a good
deal refrain from joining the singing ! You are not a leader ; but
you will have a hum in at least : and you are quite right. But the
world needs leaders. Henc^e the psalmist rose amongst us this morning
and said, " The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want." And our hearts
went out after him, — not in his high key, not in his loud, clear, trumpet
tones, — but our hearts went out after him. We said, " That is a
right song ; and if we cannot reach the lightning-notes, we shall still
rumble and mutter among the thunder-bass ! "

You have been at a great musical festival. You observed that
there were two classes of singers, — the solo singers and the chorus
performers. One man has stood out alone. Thousands of ears were
opened to catch the tones of his voice ; thousands of eyes were glisten-
ing upon him, in expectation of one of the grandest treats that can
touch human sensibility, rouse human emotion, and turn human power
to some blessed purpose. He was a solo singer. When he sits down,
four thousand men will rise and repeat in thunder what he has spoken
in the exquisiteness of his personal voice, — the same sentiment if not
the same words, — maintain the tone by combination which he began in
personal power. It is the same with the church ; and that is where so
many of us get wrong. A number of little fellows, with voices like
halfpenny whistles, come out and say, " We sing a solo." And they
cant. Are we then for ever to shut them up in silence ? Nothing of
the kind. We say, " Get back into the gallery ; and when it is your
turn, come and stand up, and be lost among the thousands, and still
contribute your little tone, your little sigh, to the grand outburst." "

So we need a man like David, a man like Habakkuk. Habakkuk,
you see, expresses himself in the Jirst person. Alas ! there are some
mightily fine people who object to the first person ; who, unhappily, not
having been consulted in the elaboration of the grammar of their
mother-tongue, make a life-long protest against the first person, — always
very humble people, only too humble ! There is a humility that is very
oppressive. I heard a person say, for example, " I delivered an address
at the laying of a foundation-stone ; and from beginning to end I never
used the word /." To know that he never used it was to use it. The
speech was, from beginning to end, one long /, and nothing else. We
need men in the church who can speak personally. Habakkuk does
not express himself in vague generalities. He does not say, " Although
these divers disasters might occur, probably there would «be somebody

276 The City Temple

in some remote nook of the world who still, after all, would maintain
the truth and show the faith." But he says, and the responsibiUty is
his, " Though all these failures should take place, yet I will rejoice in
the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation." It is a solo. We
cannot repeat it ; but we can all take part in the great chorus which
invokes the help, the pity, and the grace of God !

The prophet herein declares two things which are of supreme
importance in the highest life of man. First he declares the possibility
of having joy independently of all external things. When we hear
Habakkuk express himself thus, the words which occur to us are these :
" Sir, give me this water that I thirst not." Here is a man who has a
secret, — a man who rises amid the pomp of nature, the productiveness
of summer, and says, " Though every light be put out, and every root
be withered, I have a joy that cannot be impaired." Men of that kind
stimulate us ; they excite enquiry- — they turn our hearts into a new
direction of thought, expectation, and purpose. If we can prove them
to be fanatical, and their theology to be absurd, then we may recur to
the old prose, the eternal insipidity of a tepid faith, of a diluted hope.
It is a very delicate thing, however, to call one of the oldest men in the
church a liar. What if, after all, Habakkuk should be right and we
should be wrong ? What if it be possible to attain a quality and scope
of faith which shall save us from the dust and make us independent of
all created things ? It may be so. It may be that, after all, the Creator
is greater than the creation ; that they who are sheltering themselves
under the little tent of the universe will one day find themselves desti-
tute ; and that they who hide their lives in the great love of God shall
be serene, composed, triumphant, " amid the wreck of matter and the
the crash of worlds." That is poetry ! Aye ; and life without poetry is
life vmius life. This is a very remarkable thing, that any one man
could ever be found who could say from his heart, Avith the emphasis of
personal conviction, "My joy does does not depend on the things that
are outside me." I cannot say what Habbakuk says. I am not so old
or so good a scholar as that hoary prophet. But we may be climbing
up towards his great height. We cannot all be on the mountain top at
the same time. Yonder he is on the far height, — he catches the first
sunshine ; here are some midway up ; yonder are some poor travellers
just beginning. What then ? The one determining question is this :
Is your face towards the rising of the sun? " Faint, yet pursuing."
That is the condition which ought to be descriptive of every man
whose life is an apparent failure, of every man who has a continual
and anxious struggle.

A good many of us draw our joy from things that are external.
Here is a man whose trade is remarkably good ; whose fields are ripe
unto the harvest ; the sun and he seem to be in conspiracy ; he seems
but to have to utter a wish, and it is gratified ; he is strong in body,
never loses a night's rest, gets everything he wants. And he says,
"** God moves in a mysterious way his wonders to perform." But
that is a poor theology, a poor faith. A man's income is doubled ;
aiid he says, " God is very good. I will rejoice in the Lord, and
joy in the God of my salvation," So he ought. But there is a possi-

Joy Independent of Figs 277

bility beyond that, and it is to that further deeper possibility I want to
get. A man goes out in the morning to see how his fields are getting
on, and they are all covered with blight. He has only a few acres ; he
thinks he will try hay this year, because last year other people tried and
had a good crop. He tries hay : the hay is a most beautiful crop, but
just as he has cut it, or would have cut it, the rain descends, and he can't
gather a spike of it. To be able then to say, " I will rejoice in the Lord,
I will joy in the God of my salvation," that is faith ! But who can attain
to that great, exquisite, infinite refinement of trust ? Yet this is what
Habakkuk calls us to in these words. It is very well for you to go into
your house where your children are all strong, healthy, and boisterous,
full of life and vigour all the day long, and for you to praise God. But
here is a man whose income is small ; whose children are puny, weak,
hardly ever have a day's health. For that man to look upon his lot and
say, " It seems to be very hard : all these things are apparently against
me, yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation."
That is faith ! In preaching this, have I attained it ? No. But
we want to be able to say with earnestness, though we count not
ourselves to have attained, *' this one thing we do ; we press towards
the mark." Lord increase our faith !

In the second place, the prophet declares that all his concern is
about salvation. Not about secular prosperity. You know there is a
law which says the greater includes the less. Habakkuk has followed
the meaning of that law, and made an application of it to his own per-
sonal life and experience. " I will joy in the God of my salvation."
Not in the God of providence only. Providence is the first ; salvation
is the second. Salvation includes providence. The body stands alone,
and must be discussed alone. But he who is careful about his soul
gathers up his whole life, and is master of the whole situation of his
being, prospects, and destiny ! What if we be gathering up the dust
and allowing the king to pass by ? What if we be very anxious about
fig trees, vines, olives, wheat-fields, herds, and be inattentive to the
hunger and thirst of the soul ? Now this was Jesus Christ's method of
living and method of teaching. Christ said, " Seek ye first the kingdom
of God and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto
you." He said the words " these things" allusively. He did not turn
round and look at them ; he waved his finger towards them, as men
might indicate trifles. " First the kingdom of God and his righteousness."
Having secured that gift you secure all blessings along with it. " Take
no thought for the morrow." " Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon
earth where moth and rust corrupt and thieves break through and steal."
This is Jesus Christ's teaching. He does not take you out into the fields
and say, " Whenever you find the fig tree blossoming ; whenever you
find abundance of fruit in the vines ; whenever the labour of the olive is
a great success, and the fields are covered with meat ; then gather your-
selves and praise God for all the riches of his hand." He says, in effect,
" Pay no attention to these things, — no primary attention to them. Your
one great business is to know God, to love God, to seek to understand
and to do his will ; and as for all these things they shall be added unto
you, — thrown in as a man might throw in some trifle to a merchantman

278 The City Temple

who had made great purchases of him." How keen some men are in the
department of providence, how obtuse in the department of salvation !
Some men are all body. It is one of two things, my brethren, — the body
or the soul must be master. We take our tone either from the body or
from the soul. The determining key of our life is secular or spiritual,
external or internal. He who is careful about the greatest will of
necessity include all that is least.

What are the points of application to us now that we are going out
again into the world ? How are we to carry this in our hearts and to
use it for the benefit of our highest life ? Understand that we are to
endeavour to say something more than we find here, something with a
sharper point, something with a keener emphasis. We are to struggle
after the attainment which will enable us to say, " Although my fig tree
shall not blossom, yet I will rejoice in the Lord." Some of us can bear
the failures of other people's fig trees with marvellous composure ; we
can look over the farmer's gate and say, " Ha ! it is a bad year for
farmers this, is it not ? " But if the blight should come upon our little
section of life, where are we ? If the panic should touch our department,
what of our faith and our joy then? We carry other people's troubles
very easily. It is possible to say that though fig trees may not blossom
our rehgion shall not be touched, simply because we have no investment
in fig trees. Understand that ? The great point is this : " Although my
fig tree shall not blossom, although no fruit shall be in my vines, although
the labour of my olive shall fail, and my fields yield no meat, and my
flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in my
stalls, though my fig tree be barked, though my one ewe lamb be taken
away from me, though He slay me, yet will I trust in Him." It does us
good to speak in that high key sometimes, because it shows us that our
education is yet far from completeness. We see how poor is their religion
which is dependent upon the external. It is not a religion at all. It is
a theory, it is a sentiment, it is a kind of natural instinct. But religion-
deep, true, wise, tender — is not in it. We are to learn this great lesson :
that he who has Christ has all things. My friend, hast thou found Christ ?
He was son of Mary, He was Son of God, He was God the Son ; He lived
died, rose again, to redeem thy life from destruction and crown thee with
loving kindness and tender mercy. You will never understand this word
salvation except in connection with the name of Christ. It cannot be
understood grammatically, etymologically; it cannot be understood from
any literary point at all. The word salvation is a heart-word : the
interpretation of it is on yonder Cross — the Cross of Christ. You
must learn it there, you must sound its depths there, you must try
to find the measure of its infinite amphtude there, in the work of
God the Son !

Do I speak to any unsaved man ? I speak then in the first per-
son. I will not seek words of circumlocution and mere courtesy to
avoid the charge of egotism. I will say I ! Referring to my own life and
my own experience, I would say this to you : — Not until I knew Christ,
felt his power in my heart, knew somewhat of the mystery of his sacri-

Joy Independent of Figs 279

ficial blood, did I begin to live, did I know the first element of pure,
glorious joy ! Out of Christ you cannot have joy ; you may have a kind
of ecstacy, a kind of fanatical excitement, a momentary happiness ; you
may have bewilderment, confusion, delusion. But joy — wise, intelligent,
rational, all-defying, all-surviving joy — you cannot have. Do you say you
have heard that before ? You speak it to your condemnation, not to my
shame. Do you say you have heard every word of this again and again ?
I gather up the times in which you have heard it, and hurl back your
reply as a bolt of judgment, as a fire of reproach and condemnation !
To icnow these things and not to do them is to commit moral suicide !
As for those of us who know the mystery of salvation — of hope and joy
in a better life than this — it is incumbent upon us in our extremities, when
trade is bad, when harvests fail, when things go wrong with us, when
health becomes disease — a variety of disease — it is incumbent upon us,
as professors of this faith, to show that in darkness we can be hopeful,
in suffering we can be patient, in the Valley of the Shadow of Death
we can avail ourselves of God's rod and staff !

28o The City Temple

Almighty God, we bless Thee for all the children of Abraham, for all
the inheritors of his faith. May our faith be as his was. May our trust
in God be simple, deep, unchanging. Take charge of our whole love ;
keep our life in Thine own eternity ; touch the springs of our being, that
the streams of our life may be pure. May all our springs be in God,
in the living God, the Creator of the ends of the earth, the Redeemer of
the family of man. May we have no charge over ourselves, no care
concerning our own life ; may our present and our future be entirely
under the control of our Sovereign Father, as revealed unto us in the
person and mediation of Jesus Christ the Son. We thank Thee for
every man who, in a loud, clear, sweet tone, has declared his faith in
God before all men ; for every one who has been simple in his testi-
mony, who has convinced the world by the argument of a sober and
solid life of faith in the Living One, — who has in Thy strength
done all things wisely and well. Let this hour be holy to us !
May every heart feel that it has alighted upon a flower in which there
is much honey. May weary travellers know that there is a springing
well here, — the well of the Lord's revelation which is never dry. May
hungry hearts eat of the bread of life and be satisfied ; may bmised reeds
be protected ; may no smoking flax be quenched ; may the feeblest
aspiration after the living God be answered by wondrous revelations of
love to the waiting and eager heart. Give us release from the importuni-
ties of the world ! Help our recollection to remember Thy goodness.
Save our love from the distraction of many rivals. Draw all our faculties
and powers, every desire of our soul, towards Thyself in profitable con-
centration, that in this holy house of worship we may become strengthened
for all the engagements of life. May the strong man give thee his
strength. May the wise man know that thou didst light the lamp of his
understanding. Save the weak man from regarding his weakness as a
temptation. Turn every eye to Thyself, thou Eternal Light, and bind
around Thy heart all the affections of our own. God be gracious unto
us ! Show us a love deeper than our mother's — tenderer than we have
ever seen. Gather us unto Thy great heart, and the storm shall never
find us there ! Amen.

SPECIAL NOTE.

The Thursday Service is suspended until September 28th, 1871.
Oft that date the Service will be resiwied. During the suspension of
the Noonday Services the Weekly Numbers of The City Temple
will be issued as usual, — one penny each. The first number of the
Monthly Series (see advertisement on cover) will be ready on Thursday,
September 28th.

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7^^ City T^emple.

REPORT OF A DISCOURSE DELIVERED BY

JOSEPH PARKER,

In Poultry Chapel, on Thursday Morning, May 25, 1871.

(the eighty-first noonday service.)

OCCASIONAL REST.

"Rest a while." — Mark, vi., 31.

F there is one spot above another on which these words may be
spoken with special appropriateness, I stand upon that spot
at this moment. In the heart of the greatest city in the
world, feeling the quivering of its all but incessant activity,
surrounded by innumerable competitors for prizes of all sorts, there is a
peculiar fitness in issuing the invitation, " Rest a while." All men are
now in a hurry. Civility itself is cut down to a minimum. Slowness is
a crime. A blunder is an almost inexcusable offence. Everywhere we
hear the sharp, keen, brusque retort. There is no time for elaboration ;
everything must be done, and done instantly. This being the case, an
invitation like that in the text sounds like the music of a better world ;
it comes soothingly upon the weary man ; it is just what the heart has
been aching for, — and how gladly he would accept it ! The invitation
I I

282

The City Temple

in all its completeness cannot be understood by those who have never
known the pain of fatigue, the exhaustion of utter weariness. We get
at some truths best through the body. At all events, we see the first
rude outlines best from physical appearances and conditions, and what
we call the realities that are round about us. This is an instance.
It will be confessed by all men, even by the veriest slaves to their ever-
driving ambition, that physical rest is sometimes needed. The aching
limb asks for it ; the hand that is so weary that it cannot any longer
hold pen, or tool, or weapon of war, says, in its trembling weakness,
" Let me rest a while ;" and the fevered brain, over-driven, excited
almost to madness, says, in its sleeplessness and throbbing and heat,
" Let me rest a while." Well, then, here is so much gained. We shall
be able to make our way from this low point to a much higher phase of
rest, and find our way upward, from the cry of the feeble and exhausted
flesh, to the greater, more solemn, and urgent wants of our over-excited
spiritual nature ; we shall understand, in some degree, that our highest,
divinest faculties must occasionally pause, rest, and recover themselves,
if they would fully, with completeness and perfectness, discharge all the
duties and obligations which Almighty God has imposed upon them.
Rest is as necessary as labour. He is not a philosopher, but a madman,
who lights the candle of his life at both ends.

Let us look at this invitation, in the first place, as given by Jesus
Christ. An invitation can only be understood in some cases by know-
ing the character of the inviter. Look at the circumstances of the case.
The apostles gathered themselves together unto Jesus, and told him all
things, both what they had done and what they had taught, and he said
unto them, " Go ye yourselves apart unto a desert place and rest a
while." Here is Jesus Christ, the religious teacher, the Redeemer of
souls, taking an interest in men's aching, weary flesh ! How foolish,
then, are they who lock up religion in what they call the church, and
don't allow it the full scope and benign play which Jesus Christ
assigned it ! Jesus Christ was a teacher of spiritual truths. Why then
did he take an interest in men's weary bodies ? Why did he not tell
the men not to care for physical requirements and bodily necessities,
but to go on again with their spiritual work ? Because he was God the
Son, the Son of vian, the brother of every human creature ! " He
knoweth our frame, he remembereth that we are dust." Ought these
little incidental illustrations of our Lord's divinity to be ignored ?
" Rest a while" ! Why, it is a mother's word ; she says to her little
weary child who has toddled itself out of breath, " Rest a while." It is
the word of a great, generous, noble-hearted leader of men. He says,
" My company must have rest. I know I am sent to gain victories and
conquests, and to work great programmes ; but in the meantime my
over-worked men must have rest." It is a gentle word. Where do you
find such gentleness as you find in Jesus Christ ? Let us, in the first
place, make it a question of simple human kindness, sympathy, atten-
tion to little things, care about men's hunger and thirst, — and where
will you equal the Son of God ? I question whether there be a mother
who would not give up pursuit for the prize if Jesus Christ were her
competitor. There is a more than motherliness, a more than sisterli-

Occasional Rest 283

ness, in his gentle care, his soothing sympathy, in relation to these
things which are not generally counted under the term religmi. I
should like men, in view of this doctrine, to see that there is nothing in
their whole life that Jesus Christ would not undertake for them if they
would let him. He would make them happy in their affliction -, he
would support them in the time of their tottering weakness ; he would
take the vessel out of their hands and run to the well-head that he might
bring them water ! Yet there be men who think that Jesus Christ
confines his ministry to things that are transcendental, sublime, far
away, and inaccessible ! This is a profound delusion. There is nothing
about you that Jesus Christ does not take an interest in. When your
pulse is feeble and staggering, he feels it in his own heart ; when you
are laid down in weakness, in exhaustion and pain, he looks in upon
you long before the morning sun comes to pay his early visit ; when
there is little meal in the barrel and not much oil in the cruise, he knows
about it and would provide for us. He lays down this doctrine, which
ought to revolutionise society and bring men to considerations profound
and pious : " Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness,
and all these things shall be added unto you." He speaks about " these
things" with a scornful accent, with an emphasis which means that they
are not worthy of thinking about in comparison with the kingdom which
includes all other empires — a monarchy which binds within its vast
embrace all petty lordships, all transient dominions.

Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, to-day, and for ever. If he
cared for men's bodies in the days of his earthly ministry, he cares for
men's bodies now. To me, that dear brotherly, sisterly Christ of God
is more God when He stoops to do such little things as are indicated in
the text, — when He says, " You had better now go away out of the
crowd, sit down a little, and rest a while." There is a sublimity in little
things. As the sun can be reflected by a dew-drop, so the whole
infinitude of God's power and wisdom may shine up out of the arrange-
ments which God has made for the comfort, progress, discipline, and
defence of his people. I should like to tarry long upon this point, — it
seems to lay hold of one's heart : That there is nothing about us that
Jesus Christ does not care for. To him there are no trifles. When a
child falls down in the streets, why, rather than the child should perish
there, he would arrest the stars and tell the world to stand still till he
gathered it up ! That is the kind of Christ we want ; not a golden
exhalation, evaporating constantly before us, shot through and through
with light, — very beautiful to look at, but nothing to rest upon ! We
want the Christ that takes an interest in our daily bread, in our nightly
sleep, in our occasional pain, — in our humanity in all its lower con-
ditions, in all its more dependent circumstances and relationships.
So, then, I am dwelling upon Jesus Christ's care of men's bodies, care
about weary people, and I find in this case a practical application
of all the rehgion that was in him. His religion was not a mere senti-
ment, a mere doctrine. It was a sentiment and it was a doctrine. But
his religion had hands, strong yet gentle, far-reaching, all-including.
There was nothing he would not stoop to do, if by doing so he could lift
up his people and give clearer interpretations of his spirit and his truth.

284 The City Temple

Let us look at this invitation, in the second place, as relati?ig
to spiritual work. To whom did Jesus Christ address the words
of the text ? To the apostles, when they gathered themselves
together unto him. What was the statement of those congregated
aposdes ? " They told him all things, both what they had done and
what they had taught." Activity and teaching, — service in relation to
the human body, ministry in relation to the human mind. They had a
double vocation ; they had been faithful to the calling in both its
aspects ; and now they had come back to their Lord to tell him all
things about it, — how they began and went on and concluded. They
seemed to gather renewed inspiration and brighter hope as they
related their christian report. Then these men were not what are
termed the working classes ? Yes, they were emphatically the working
classes. There is a very great mistake made about work. The man
who takes a spade at six o'clock in the morning, and works with it with-
out breakfast, dinner, or tea, till six o'clock at night, is undoubtedly a
working man. But there are men who work much harder than he
works, who have no spades, and who hardly ever touch any kind of
manual labour. I find no greater difficulty amongst so-called christian
people than this, — to convince them that a man can worti with his
brain and heart. They will look at a man's hands, and say, " That
man has not done much work in his time, or his hands would not be so
white." A fool's philosophy ! A man may work, and never take his
hands out of his pockets ; he may work, and have his hands gloved
from morning till night. We must be a little clearer than some of us
have been on these matters in relation to Avork. I do not say one word
against the work that is implied by the stooping posture and the ever-
exerted arms and legs of a man who is toiling for his daily bread. That
is work, that is labour, and it must be appreciated and honoured as
such. But the point immediately before us is, — That a man may work
with his brain until his very life be wasted out of him, until he ache and
throb and burn with such fever as hardly can be known by persons who
never worked but with their physical limbs. The prime minister is a
working man ; the earnest student is a working man ; the sincere, self-
expending preacher of the gospel is a working man ; the Avriter who
never wields a heavier weapon than a pen, who -writes for us day and
night, is a working man. Thought takes the sap out of a man's life, —
anxiety withers a man ! He works who thinks deeply, who thinks until
sleep flees away from him. Many a time the employer of labour is a
more hard-working man than the person who receives from him weekly
wages. Oftentimes a man with a black coat on is doing more, when he
is apparently standing still and doing nothing, than the man who is
clothed in fustian and works from one hour to another with the regu-
larity of a hireling. But who can be persuaded that spiritual exercise is
work, that intellectual activity is labour ? A man will charge you a
penny for so much tape; but if that man were to give you an idea, and
say, " Now, I want a penny for that," you would smile at him, and say
the thing was absurd and preposterous. Tape ! Now, tape can be felt
and looked at, — that is worth something. But an idea, a hint, a scheme,
a fancy, a scintillation of genius, a suggestion, — to give anything for

Occasional Rest 285

that seems utterly absurd and preposterous. Yet its price may be far
above rubies ! I am afraid some people think so, and therefore don't
attempt anything in the form of compensation. It is an awkward ex-
pression is that, — anything being " far above rubies ;" because we may
sometimes take refuge in exaggeration, and think that impossibility
absolves from all attempts. I speak, therefore, a word inspiring,
cheering, strengthening to you young men who have to burn the lamp
far into the night, — to you men who have to think and scheme and plan
in your business, — to you who apparently do nothing in the world, and
yet do everything in your sphere, by the anxiety of your thinking, and
by the constancy of your endeavour to arrange and plan so that all
your thousand points may be brought together and focalised into an
honourable success.

So Jesus Christ knows all the working of our fnind, the extent of
our ajixieties, the wearing nature of our daily cares, — follows all the
thoughts that tease, vex, annoy, perplex, and fever us. He knows us
altogether ! There is not a word on our tongue, there is not a thought
in our heart, but lo ! O Jesus, Son of man. Thou knowest it altogether !
And, knowing it, has he left it unprovided for ? See what he has done
for the recmiting of man's physical strength, and then say if he who can
be so careful about restoring the body would leave the recovery of the
mind and soul altogether unprovided for. He has answered that every
day and eventide. He sends a cooling shadow over the earth, and, as
it wraps all things in its darkness, it seems to say, " Rest a while." See
how above every week he has set that singing, shining Sabbath Day of
his, to quiet men, to give them a moment's rest in the great strife and
chase of life ! If he has made an evening to each day, — a Sabbath to
each week, — if he has in many ways shown an interest in men's bones,
muscles, nerves, and sinews, — has he forgotten the immortal soul ? has
he made no answer to the cry of the heart when it is weary and sad,
when it sighs for release and rest ? His whole life is an answer to that
enquiry. " Come unto me," said he, " all ye that labour and are heavy
laden, and I will give you rest." He meets us, therefore, at every
point. He provides for the aching limb, and answers the sigh of the
weary heart !

Let us look at this invitation, in the third place, as limited as to
time. Rest a while. Jesus Christ does not say, " Give it up ; think
no more about it ; draw final lines, and abandon the call of God which
is in your hearts." He says, " Rest, but rest a while." Rest is only
rightly used when it is intended as a preparation for further service.
Sunday is only truly queen of the week when it is used to acquire within
its golden hours mastery over mammon and the world and daily care,
and as a preparation to meet all those engagements, duties, and
difficulties which shall press upon us on the coming morning. I am
afraid that some of us have been resting " a while," and that the "until"
has become a very long time. I am afraid that Jesus might come to
some of us now, and say, " Why stand ye here all the day idle ? " It
may be right to rest an hour ; it may be immoral to rest two. It may
be a religious duty to pause for one minute ; it may be profanity in the
face of God to make that minute an hour. There is morality in these

286 The City Temple

things : morality in holiday, morality in recreation, morality in sleep,
morality in rest. Jesus does call us to holiday. He often says to us
pilgrims, " Yonder is the green field, go and rest a while in it ; toiling
man, yonder is the sea coast, away you go for a week or a month ! "
He sends us on our tours of recreation. He is the God of the tourist
as well as the God of the thinker and the praying saint. All things are
within his kingdom. But when he sends us on an errand, or bids us
pause, or tells us to do anything, we must observe the limitation. To
exaggerate his word is to debase liberty into license, and to degrade
righteousness into selfish indulgence.

What is the highest spiritual meaning of this, men and brethren ?
It means, — Our souls want rest. We know it. The doctrine meets with
instant and universal confirmation from human experience. It I could
get all my hearers who require the exhortation — blessed be God, many
I believe do not — to pause until they became familiar with the truth
that their souls need rest, I should have some hope of conducting their
education to a high point. When you go to the scene of giddy,
frivolous amusement, it is because your soul wants compromise, if not
settlement, — wants a truce, if not final peace. When I see you trooping
off to the theatre and the race-course and the place of doubtful amuse-
ment, I see something deeper than appears on the outside. Man's
soul wants rest. There is something in man tormenting him, un-
settling him, mocking him, whilst he shuts his eyes in sleep, — dis-
appointing him when he looks into his hand for fulness. Yes, and
more tlian that. Can I say it with suflicient seriousness and urgency ?
It is possible to use religious excitement itself so as to abuse it.
It is possible to seek rest in mere religious excitement. Rest is not on
the top, it is not on the outside. Rest is a question of the heart ; of
the relationship of that heart to the infinite, the eternal, the absolute,
in right, in purity, in truth. Religion itself may be abused. Men
may think that they have found rest, when they have only
found excitement. They may mistake rapture for peace ; they
may mistake a momentary sensation for the deep eternal calm !
This, then, is the doctrine : There is no rest but in Jesus Christ.
" Come unto me, and I will give you rest. I will restore the balance
of your nature ; I will recover the just equipoise of all your faculties,
impulses, desires, capabilities • I will give you centre ; I will rectify
your relationships ; I will set all the forces of your being right, and
develop them in the right direction." Rest, in its deepest and truest
sense, is a question of character. " There is no peace, saith my God,
to the wicked." The wicked are like the troubled sea, — never having
a moment's quietude, — always sobbing uncontrollably, always being up-
heaved in distress and sorrow. " Great peace have they that love thy
law." " Peace I leave with you ; my peace I give unto you." " Being
justified by faith, we have peace with God." " Acquaint now thyself
with him, and be at peace."

Peace is not a compromise with circumstances. It does not come
out of an interlocution which runs after this fashion : "Let me alone, and
I will let you alone ; if you will be quiet, I will be quiet 3 let us pro-

Occasional Rest 287

claim a truce." Rest is not a compromise. It is a divine reality in the
heart. Righteousness is rest, — holiness is peace, — rectitude with God,
coming through trust in the atonement of God the Son, means tran-
quility deep and unchanging as the peace of God which passeth
understanding ! We have hints of that rest now. The great rest-time
is ahead of us. " There remaineth therefore a rest unto the people of
God." We enter into that rest now. It is not altogether a future
blessing ; we have it now, in earnest, in part. But the fulness thereof,
what imagination can conceive ? " Blessed are the dead which die in
the Lord, for they shall rest." Not until we are settled in God's heaven
prepared for us shall we know the meaning of rest.

" There shall I bathe my weary soul
In seas of heavenly rest j
And not a wave of trouble roll
Across my peaceful breast ! "

But, brethren, don't imagine that we shall not know the meaning of
rest until we have entered heaven. A man's heaven begins on earth ;
he gets the dawning light here ; he begins the sabbatic repose whilst yet
in the flesh. So let no man deceive himself with vain hopes and
delusive inferences, — hoping that he may be right, gathering that upon
the whole he may be a child of God. There shall be wrought in every
true man's heart such a conviction as the world can never impair, —
such a peace which, whatever may be the foam upon the surface, shall
have a depth tranquil, inaccessible by any furious wind, any screaming,
battering storm ! How is it with our souls ? If we are not at rest, it
is because we have not made things right with our Father. Jesus
waits for us, bids us come, — would lure and draw us to Himself.
He will give us rest now, and never take it back again !

'€\)t ^ra^er.

Almighty God, Thou knowest our frame. Thou rememberest that it is
but dust. We are a wind, which cometh for a little time and then
passeth away. Thou hast put breath in our nostrils ; there is none that
hath life abiding in himself. In Thee we live and move and have
our being. When our strength doth waste by the way. Thou callest
upon us to wait upon God, that our strength may be renewed. If so be
we tarry at Thine altar and wait with all child-like patience and trust at
Thy gate, even youths shall faint and be weary and young men shall
utterly fall, but we shall renew our strength, we shall have resting upon
us the very power of God. Thou knowest the anxiety of our life,

288 The City Temple

the cares which beset us, all the occupations which engross our atten-
tion and exhaust our energy. Thou knowest how oftentimes we are
afflicted by the disappointments of a mocking world ; how we are
promised great things, and how the promises turn to nothingness ; how
M-^e lean upon Egypt as upon a staff, and how it doth break and pierce
the hand that trusted it. We rejoice in Thee, and above all things to
be able to draw nigh unto the living God, to draw water out of the wells
of salvation, to renew our strength in religious meditation and saintly
worship ! Now that we have gathered for one purpose, do Thou
graciously meet us ; lead us into the green pastures, conduct us by the
still waters. We bless Thee for the Rock that is higher than we. We
thank Thee for the shadow in the time of burning and heat and dazzling
light. We flee unto Thee as a covert from the storm. Thou art our
tower and strong defence, our shield and buckler, our song, our strength,
our infinite sufficiency ! We have done the things we ought not to have
done. God be merciful unto us sinners ! Visit us not in wrath. Speak
to us with all the condescension of unutterable mercy, and gather us
again. We have lost ourselves : do Thou light the house, sweep, and
seek diligently until Thou dost find us ! May our whole nature be
brought back again to the fountain of life. May our peace be complete
in the rest of God ! Forgive our sins, because of the work of Jesus
Christ. " Through this man has been preached unto us the forgiveness
of sins." May we, having heard the joyful sound with the outward ear,
hear it with the ear of the soul, and be glad under the spell of its music.
May we know the meaning of the mystery of God's pardon extended to
men who have forfeited their life and their destiny by reason of commit-
ing sin. Now be with us ; give us some sense of the rest that abideth
for weary pilgrims in Christ in the land that is afar off Give us some
hint of the unutterable peace which we shall enjoy when we have
escaped this sphere of discipline and temptation and are set in our
Father's house on high ! To God the Father, God the Son, and God
the Holy Ghost, be the kingdom and the power and glory, world with-
out end ! Amen.

SPECIAL NOTE.

The Thursday Service is suspended until September 28th, 187 1.
On that date the Service will be resumed. During the suspension of
the Noonday Services the Weekly Numbers of The City Temple
will be issued as usual, — one penny each. The first number of the
Monthly Series (see advertisement on cover) will be ready on Thursday,
September 28th.

The Prepared Place 295

ties ; Thou hast surrounded us with mercy upon mercy, countless and
precious ! What shall we render unto the Lord for all his benefits to-
wards us ? Receive our thanksgiving, so far as Avords can express our
gratitude, and cause us to feel the inexpressible thankfulness which
never can be uttered in mortal speech, — the thankfulness of our whole
heart, expressed in the consecration of our whole life. We are sinners.
God be merciful unto us ! We come to the Saviour's Cross ; we look
unto the Lamb of God ; we lay our hand upon the one Sacrifice. God
be merciful unto us ! We cannot justify our ways before God. We
have no reasons to set in order before Thee to vindicate our conduct
wherein it has been contrary to Thy most holy word. We shut our
mouth, we lay our hand upon it, we bow ourselves down into the dust.
If we might say ought before Thee, we would say, Unclean, unclean !
But if we confess our sins. Thou art faithful and just to forgive us our
sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Undertake that work.
Sanctify us, body, soul, and spirit. May our whole nature be pure.
May every aspiration, affection, desire, be sanctified by the Holy Ghost.
May our whole strength be an offering unto the Lord's service, accepted
because offered on the Cross of the Lord Jesus. Thou hast added
another week unto our years ; Thou hast taken another week from
our life upon the earth. Help us to live in Christ, then our life cannot
be measured by time. May our heart be in Christ's keeping. May our
whole life be hidden with Christ in God, then eternity itself can never
waste our energy or impair our perfect beauty. Come to us now accord-
ing to our want. To the hunger of our soul do Thou apply the bread
of heaven. To the burning, consuming thirst of our love and
highest nature do Thou apply the water of the river of life. Revive the
drooping. May they look up where they cannot stand up. May they
feel Thy presence and submit to Thy rule. Dry the tears of our sorrow.
Explain Thou to us, if so be we may thereby be stronger in the Lord
and in the power of his might ; if not, help us to believe in the future,
where there is no sorrow because no sin, where there is complete ever-
enduring rest. Look upon Thy servants who have to face the world
day by day, — whose life is often a battle, whose battle is often a failing
strife, whose hearts are discouraged, and whose strength is wasted.
Give them Thy grace, work in them Thy peace, and give them hope.
Look upon Thy servants who seem to carry everything before them ;
who speak, and it is done ; who command, and it stands fast ; who
who dream themselves into success ; who put forth the finger, and carry
all things as they will. This is a great temptation : who can bear it ?
Our success endangers us, if our roots be not fixed in God, if our love
and our faith be not established in Jesus Christ. Teach Thy servants
that all this world can give is but a splendid nothing. Show them that
if the whole world were at their feet it Avould ultimately fall away and
leave them without possession and without rest. May we set our
affections on things above. May we look at things not seen. May we
dominate over time and sense, and even noAv sit down in the kingdom
of Jesus Christ. Bless all households and family circles. May heads of
houses walk in their houses with a perfect heart. May all little children
early give themselves of their own accord to Jesus the Son of God.

2g6 The City Temple

May masters rule gently. May servants serve faithfully. May the rich
be humble, genial, liberal, noble, incapable of meanness, holding all
selfishness in holy contempt. May the poor be delivered from all envy,
jealousy, covetousness, discontent, and despair. May the whole world
be touched by Thy light, and united in the one brotherhood which is
found in the love of Christ. As for our native land, peace be within
her borders ! As for her palaces, wherein they represent righteousness,
purity, equity, and progress towards heaven, bless their inmates and
prosper their counsels. Break the rod of the tyrant. Upset the counsel
of the fool. Break the teeth of the madman and take his power away.
Reign Thou, whose right it is. Overturn, overturn, overturn, till every-
where kings shall be lost in the King and lords in the Lord, and
there shall be one name and one love ! Amen.

SPECIAL NOTE.

The Thursday Service is suspended until September 28th, 1871.
On that date the Service will he resumed. During the suspension of
the Noonday Services the Weekly Numbers of The City Temple
will be issued as usual, — one penny each. The first number of the
Monthly Series (see advertisement on cover) will be ready on Thursday,
September 28th.

The City Temple.

REPORT OF A DISCOURSE DELIVERED BY

JOSEPH PARKER,

In Poultry Chapel, on Sunday Evening, May 7, 1871.

LIMITATIONS.

" Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature ? "
Mattliew, vi. 27.

T is well for men to think that there are some things which,
with all their power, they cannot do. Some of these things
are apparently very simple, yet even though simple and easy
as in some cases they appear to be, cannot be done, even
when men give the whole stress and pith of their minds to the attempt.
This is implied in the phraseology of the text : Which of you by taking
thought, by anxiously considering, by most perseveringly endeavouring,
by straining his wit and strength to the very utmost, by spending his
days and nights in the effort, can add one cubit unto his stature ?
There are some difficult things which we can do by putting out all our
strength. There are others which mock the fulness of our power, and
the tenacity of our patience. We resolve to do them, and we are beaten
back, and taught a lesson of self-impotence which otherwise we never
L L

298 The City Temple

could have learned. Can you add one cubit unto your stature ? You
may wear high-heeled boots, you may order the tallest hats, but the
height of your stature you are utterly unable to increase. God himself
sovereignly draws certain boundary hues. In some instances God allows
us to a large extent to draw our own boundaries ; in others he presently
gives the final and decisive word, " Hitherto — no further." It is im-
portant to know the difference between quantities which are variable and
quantities which are fixed. This knowledge may save us a great deal of
trouble, and prevent very much pain. Can your teeth bite the rock ?
However hungry you are, is there strength in your jaw to bite the
granite ? Can your feet stand upon the flowing river ? Can you lay
your finger upon the lowest of all the stars that shine in heaven ? A
thousand such questions show that we are hemmed in by the impassable ;
we walk upon the edge of a gulf j and our mightiest endeavours show us
that after all we are only beating ourselves against the bars of a great
cage ! A painted cage, but a cage still — a cage lamplit, but a cage
still.

Now this limitation of our power must have some meaning. Jesus
Christ makes use of it in illustrating not only the sovereignty but the
goodness of God. He teaches us to trust the Father who has deter-
mined the height of our stature. He shows that if we cannot do such
apparently little things as he has specified in his sermon, it is absurd to
suppose we can do things which are infinitely greater ; checks our
anxiety by showing that our keenest solicitude about earthly concerns
boots nothing when it gets beyond trust, and becomes practical atheism.
This argument is as beautiful in its simplicity as it is universal in its
application. Wherever there is a man, whatever his colour, language,
age, he can understand this challenge, Can you add one cubit tinto your
stature ? Why are you not taller ? There seems to be room enough
above you to admit of growth. 'VA^hy don't you grow ? You would not
shut out the light ot the sun even if you were half an inch taller ! You
would not imperil the stars if you did stand half a hair's breadth higher !
Why do you not add to your stature ? You can scheme, and arrange,
and plot, and suggest. Sir ! why not add to your stature ? You
cannot. Then consider, — ask yourself a few plain searching questions.
See how God rules in all the things — in your height, in the bounds 0/
your habitation, in all the limits which he has set to your life. And let
the height of thy stature, the tinted grass, the colour of thy hair, the
flight of birds, the time of the rising of the sun and the setting of the
same, teach thee the first principles of natural theology. Learn thou
that thy little power, expressing itself in ten thousand impotent spasms,
is not the measure of God's sovereignty !

Now, the inquiry of the text serves to rebuke our anxiety and
humble our impious ambition, by asking us questions which conduct us
still further into the glory and the mystery of God's kingdom.

Which of us, by taking thought, can find out God? " The world
by wisdom knew not God." The world dreamed, guessed, groped, — and
the result was, an acknowledgement of the Utik?wwn. The world in
the fulness of its wisdom found its way to an unexplained Shadow, and
there it stood, terrified by its own discovery, dumb through fear, skulk-

Limitations '2-99

ing from a spectre which it never could brighten into a God. Which of
you, by taking thought, can find out the Eternal, the infinite, the divine ?
Our Father is made known to us by revelation — he is self-revealed, self-
portrayed. Why ? That no flesh should glory in his presence. " Where
is the wise, where is the scribe, where is the disputer of this world ?
So long as men imagine that they can find out God by intellectual
research they will be self-confident, they will be alienated from one
another, they will be fear-ridden and superstitious. Only as they accept
God's revelation of himself as a free, gracious gift, will they realise the
common wants of human nature, and be moved to the utterance and
enjoyment of a common worship.

IVhich of you by taki?ig thought can direct his own life 1 This we
have tried to do many a time, so we can speak with all the distinctness
and emphasis of experience. " Thou knowest not what a day may bring
forth." You cannot see through a single hour. When you have laid
your plan, something Avill occur which you could not foresee. The road
looks very clear, but who can tell what may be down in the hedgeside ?
You say, " This same shall comfort us." And lo ! it is cut down with a
stroke. You make an engagement for seven years, and the moment
you have signed the bond you may be disabled by a mortal pain. You
lay up for your children, and behold your store is blown away by an
unexpected wind ! Jesus Christ comes to us under these circumstances
and says, "Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his
stature ? " What is the value of your anxiety ? What is the practical
worth of all this consideration, all this fear, all this scheming and plan-
ning about eating and drinking and apparel ? These inquiries seem to
mock and torment us until, ha\'ing riven open the wound, he pours m
this oil, " Your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these
things." There are some things which your heavenly Father takes into
his own hands. There are some keys which he never takes ofi" his own
girdle and puts into the possession of Cherub, Seraph, or man. What
then ? Seeing that you are beaten at every point, and thrown back
helplessly in many of your endeavours, " seek ye first the kingdom of
God and his righteousness," and as for these other things upon which
you have been spending your most anxious fears, they shall be added
unto you as if they were nothing, — given as a merchantman might give
the child of his customer some little thing when he has concluded great
bargains.

Which of you by taking thought can discover a plan for redeeming
and saving the soull Here also we have had experience. Self-destroyed,
we thought we might be self saved. We have gone to many a river and
bathed in its waters of promise. We have hewn out unto ourselves
cisterns. We have followed the wise man from place to place that we
might listen to his theories, and consider his suggestions. No heretic
ever wTOte a book which we did not instantly buy and eagerly devour.
We have endeavoured to colour our external life, — to give that life
brightness of hue, healthiness of complexion. We have been casuistical
in our reasoning ; we have endeavoured to found a system of intuitive
morals ; we have consulted the light within us, and developed our con-
sciousness to the ver)^ utmost, and still the sting pierces us ! We have

300 The City Temple

gathered feathers and made a pillow for our weary, aching heads ; and lo !
no sleep has come to us, — no rest has eased our pain and recovered our
power ! This is a subject upon which we have expended thought. The
mightiest minds among men have exercised themselves upon this very-
point. The world has set itself to get rid of God and of his Christ.
Still there is unrest in our souls ; there is bitterness in our chief joy. If
you cannot add one cubit unto your stature, how can yon save the world?
If you cannot give yourself an inch extra height, how can you save
human souls ? Thus Christ rebukes us, challenges us, confounds us.
Thus he gives us to feel that, after all, if there is not rest, peace, salva-
tion in that blood-stained Cross of his, they are not elsewhere to be
found ! If the Cross won't do, nothing else will do. So our minds are
put back ; we are shown our littleness ; our impotence is forced upon us,
that we may start from that point in all our reasonings and all our
service.

This great fact of the divine limitation of human power is to rule
us in the deepest of our studies, and in the profoundest of our worship.
If we lay hold of this truth, and have a clear, deep, tender conviction of
it, and of all the truths which it represents, three great effects ought to
be produced upon our life.

First : // should foster the most loving and confident trust in the good-
ness of God. There is a point where we cannot go one iota further,
where we are compelled to one of two things, — reverent and intelligent
trust, or the ostrich blindness which seems to proceed upon the principle
that to shut the eyes is to escape all observation and all control. The
course of reasoning in our minds ought to be this : " I cannot add one
cubit unto my stature ; God has determined my height." If he has been
mindful of such a little thing as that, will he be unmindful of great
things ? If I find his signature upon single leaves, upon atoms, upon
dew-drops, shall I not find his signature on the great forest ? on the face
of the universe ? on the great ocean of creation ? Is God confined to
things that are little and trivial? Of what consequence is a man's
height ? Whether he be seven feet five or four is a matter of the smallest
moment ; yet if God has fixed that line, does his care of mankind termi-
nate there ? Is there nothing beyond ? When he brings me to this
point and says, " You cannot take one step further," yet there is a great
future to be traversed, he implies that, since my power is exhausted, his
hand is at my service. The appeal, then, is this — a tender, gracious,
redeeming appeal — recovering our souls from despair, and establishing
our hearts in trust. As God is Sovereign over things of apparently little
consequence, he is as much King and Lord over all things of intrinsic
importance, of infinite value. What have we, after all, to do with to-
morrow ? Yet that to-morrow seems the worst devil that some of us
have to fight. It comes upon us and tempts us into atheism ; it lures
us away from simple childlike trust, and incites us to ambitious schem-
ing, and the self-trust which is the worst phase of practical atheism.
Jesus Christ would stand between us and that fatal to-morrow, and tell
us that it is in the hands of God, and that which he does is best. If we
think that we can do something towards securing to-morrow for ourselves,
and provide against contingencies, Jesus Christ says that it is true up to

Limitations 301

a given point, but beyond that point it is the worst of lies ! If we still
think we have somewhat of undeveloped power, he says, " You have not."
" Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature ?
Thou canst not make one hair white or black." And unless you begin
your reasoning at that point, you will flounder in a thousand mistakes,
and your worship will never reach the ear of God !

In the next place, this truth should moderate our tone respecting
opmions tvhich are not decisively settled by revelation. If a man can't
increase his stature, how can he increase the volume of God's truth ?
If a man can't increase his stature, who gives him authority to speak
where God has been silent ? I beHeve in dogma, I believe confidently
in positive truth, in clearly marked and defined lines. At the same time,
I question every man's right or power to say positively that such and
such a doctrine is true if he have not God's own word to confirm the
testimony which he bears. This ought to make us very charitable
towards one another. Alas ! some men who could not, if it were to
save their souls, add half an inch to their stature, stand up in the church
and condemn thousands of their fellow-men, where God has given them
no authority so to do. There is enough revealed in the holy book for
our guidance ; there is a sufficiency of revelation for any want of our
life ; and as to interpretation, there we must have the widest liberty, the
tenderest of charity, the utmost mutual concession. Whoso claims
infallibility, beyond uttering the plain letter and word of God's truth,
sets himself up to be God, and commits the grossest blasphemy ! I
shall try to learn this lesson, and if any man come to me with a sugges-
tion bearing upon some hitherto concealed phase of truth, I must receive
it for consideration, — I must abstain from anathema, from harsh answers,
from objurgatory declarations ; for what know I but that out of a child's
mouth he may have sent me some new message ? But if I be reqwired
under pain and penalty to subscribe it, believe it and preach it, then I
must have the most distinct declaration from the inspired volume itself
that the proposition is true. For if a man cannot add one cubit unto
his stature, we need not hesitate to say that it is beyond his power to
write a supplement to God's book, and to say what God himself has left
unsaid.

In the last place, this truth should enco7/?-age us to cultivate with
fuller patience and intenser zeal the pozvers which we know to be capable of
expansion. We see some things most sharply by contrast. Here we
have a point which challenges contrast of the most practical and instruc-
tive kind. For example : You cannot add one cubit unto your stature,
yet you can increase the volume and force of your mind. See the
truthfulness of the doctrine we have laid down, that in some things God
sharply gives the final line, in others he leaves great liberty, and calls
men to growth that seems to have no end. See how apparently arbitrary
is divine sovereignty in some of its workings. A man can't increase his
height one inch, and yet I find nowhere a limit to intellectual supre-
macy and to the expansion of intellectual power. Your body has done
growing, but your mind may just have began to look at the alphabet of
truth. When the animal has reached the utmost limit of its capability,
the intellectual, the divine may go on increasing, expanding, refining,

302 The City Temple

for God constantly says to the faithful servant, " Thou hast been faithful
over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things." Whatsoever
a man's mind legitimately attains, God still says, " Come up higher."

Again, though you cannot add one cubit unto your stature, you
may relieve the pain of a thousand hearts. See what a contrast is this.
What little creatures we are in some particulars ; how God crushes us,
and stunts us, and says, " There, you cannot get an inch higher than
that." Then he says to those creatures so stunted and imprisoned,
" Now you may go out, round and round the world, carrying with you
the morning of redemption, the day of mercy, the gifts of love." So
little, and yet so great ! A worm, yet almost a God, — dying, yet living
for ever ! Crushed before the moth, yet educated and sanctified until
fit for the society of angels !

Again, though you cannot add one cubit unto your stature, you
may cultivate an ever-deepening acquaintance with the will of God ; you
may know God more perfectly, read his word with a clearer eye, receive
the suggestions and instructions of his holy spirit more lovingly, more
loyally and trustfully, so that you may be men in understanding. Here
again we have the little and the great, — man the prisoner, and man the
free citizen of the universe ; man limited, and man well-nigh as unlimited
as God himself. So strange, so wondrous — may it be so instructive —
are the contradictions of human life ! So, I come with a rebuke to those
who say that all their theology terminates upon the word " cannot."
Understand there is a can as well as a cannot. Understand, that though
there are limitations, there are yet great liberties ; and that whilst on the
one hand we are taught how little and impotent we are, on the other we
are encouraged to study, prayer, growth, and expansion, until we recover
the lost lineaments of our glorious Creator. Wise is the man who knows
what he can do and what he cannot. The old law cannot be broken —
namely, "Thou shalt," " thou shalt not ;" thou canst, thou canst not.
The old temptation still assails us, namely, to touch the forbidden tree.
Yes, if men who have spent their strength on trying to do the impos-
sible had expended it upon honest efforts to do the revealed will of
God, society would be revolutionised in a day. But the old temptation
appeals to us evermore. Some new charm is thrown over us from the
forbidden tree ; constantly some new offer lures us from the appointed
path ; we become faint by our imprisonment. Our ambition says, " Be
bold and take a brave man's course." We follow the tempter, and God's
spear smites us lor the wicked trespass. Yet we cannot learn, — we will
not learn. Where God has written upon the door " private," we go to
that door and beat it, and importune God to open it. And where he
has thrown open gates which disclose upon whole heavens of truth and
beauty, we will not go in. We would rather increase our stature than
save our souls !

What a poor account some of us will have to give at last !
We shall sum up our life in this : — We have been trying to do
the impossible. We heard that we could not add one cubit
unto our stature, and the thing seemed so unreasonable that we
determined to try it. We heard that we could not overstep certain

Limitations 303

boundaries, and we have diligently endeavoured to cross them. That
is what some men are doing — hammering away at the impossible !
This is a difficulty that tells in many ways. A man sets his mind upon
a certain course. If he can't go down there he wont go anywhere, not
seeing that though that course is shut up to him a thousand other
courses round about are inviting him by their charms and importuning
him by their importance.

Let us go to them, then, knowing that we are limited in our little
sphere ; that there are marked and positive limitations in some cases ;
and that everywhere — excepting when we are growing up into the like-
ness of God — there is limitation. Let that rebuke human reason, — let
that curb human selfishness, — let that stand by us when we read the
holy word and try to solve its mysteries. And when we become weary
of looking at our littleness, our experiments, and our impotence, and
turn round in other directions, we find that we may take wings — strong,
great, unwearying pinions — and fly away right up to the very heart and
heaven of God ! Though we be little we are great. Though we are
shut up and confined and mocked in some directions, in other direc-
tions We are citizens of the universe, freemen of the whole creation.
Blessed are they who know alike the limit and the liberty of human
life !

CI)e ^Prajjen

Almighty God, teach us that Thy fear casts out all other fear ; that
whosoever thinks of Thee thinks of all that is worthy of the powers
with which Thou hast blessed him. Teach us that to dismiss God from
our thoughts is to plunge our minds into darkness, and to lose all the
beauty and joy and peace of life. We rejoice that Thou canst be thought
about by mortal minds ; that Thou art infinite, eternal, immutable.
Yet Thou Avilt dwell with the man whose heart is broken, whose spirit
is contrite. Thou wilt not break the bruised reed, Thou wilt not quench
the smoking flax. Thou givest power even to the faint, and to them that
have no might Thou increasest strength. This is the condescension
of God passing all understanding, meeting us in the abasement of our
weakness and poverty, and supplying all our need out of His unsearch-
able riches. Even when our father and our mother forsake us Thou
dost take us up. When we are a terror to ourselves Thou dost show us
the way of recovery. Thou dost set up within us the standard of Thy
salvation, and Thou redeemest with a great price. Thou renewest our

304 The City Temple

life by rekindling our hope. We come now that we may worship Thee
with reverent hearts, with all thankfulness, with all love, with all trust.
Accept our evening sacrifice and give us answers of peace. We would
know Thee more perfectly ; we would distinctly see Thee everywhere in
life ; we would know that the light of morning comes from God, that
the shadows of the night are the gifts of Thy love, that all we behold on
the right hand and on the left is a witness of Thy presence and Thy
care. All nature conspires to elevate Thy name and pronounce Thy
praise. When we read the holy book which Thou hast written for the
instruction ot mankind, we would see beyond the letter, we would
commune Avith the spirit of the revelation which Thou hast granted. We
would know Thee, not by the learning of the letter only, but by the
higher scholarship of love, the keen penetration of sympathy. We would
know Thee afar oft, and interpret by our hearts when all mere utterance
fails. Thus may Thy book be to us every day a new book, a continual
revelation of Thy mind and purpose. May we read therein with ever-
heightening joy, drawing water out of the wells of salvation, and find in
the provisions of Thy word more than all our hunger can ever need.
May Thy word dwell in us richly, as the answer to every difficulty, as
the light of every dark hour, as the music of every lonely night, as the
consolation of our sorrow and the deliverer of our souls, — so that we
may have bread to eat which the world knoweth not of, and have con-
solations and power which the world can neither give nor take away.
We would live deeply ; we would have roots. Our life would be a
hidden life, far away from the gaze and the influence of things tem-
poral and visible ! We would that our life might be hidden with Christ
in God, so that all which men see may be beautiful with heavenly truth,
lustrous Avith the purity of God, ever honourable, just, noble, and un-
impeachable, because derived from daily communion Avith the Eternal
and the True. Hear us when we confess our sins ! Hear the cry of
those who are in sore distress by reason of intense consciousness of
personal guilt ! Show the penitent the way to the Cross of Christ ! Say
to those who are in despair, " Jesus Christ came not to destroy men's
lives, but to save them." Help us to know the sinfulness of sin, and to
hate iniquity as Thou dost hate it. May we abstain from the appear-
ance of evil. When heart and flesh do fail, may we show, by the
strength of our resolution, the tenderness of our heart, and the eleva-
tion of our speech, that Thou art our strength and portion. Strengthen
every good man. Break the power of every evil mind. Uplift righteous-
ness, virtue, truth, and mercy ; and destroy, as Thou only canst destroy,
all evil, hypocrisy, chicanery, badness of every degree. Reign Thou,
whose right it is, and establish Thy kingdom in all human hearts.j
Amen.

The City Temple.

REPORT OF A DISCOURSE DELIVERED BY

JOSEPH PARKER,

In Poultry Chapel ^ on Sunday Evenings June 4, 1871.

PLAIN SPEAKING.

Ye hypocrites, well did Esaias prophesy of you." — St. Matthew, xv., 7.

HESE words call us to look at three points, — the first of which
is the importance of plain speaking on all questions affecting
the interests of truth. Jesus Christ was pre-eminently a plain
speaker. He did not round his sentences for the purpose of
smoothing his way. When he had occasion to administer rebuke or to
point out the errors of those who were round about him, he spoke
keenly, incisively, with powerful effect upon the mind and conscience of
those who heard him. In his speech you will find many hard words,
many sayings which would not be accounted courteous. He called
men blind leaders, fools, vipers, whited sepulchres, and other names
equally descriptive of moral deformity. He never appears to have used
these names with hesitation or misgiving, but pronounced them as , if
M M

3o6 The City Temple

they were the right names and were rightly distributed to the parties
who heard him speak. In the text he calls certain persons hypocrites.
He does not say behind their backs that they were hypocrites, but he
looked straight at them and right through them, and said, " Ye hypo-
crites." You mil see, therefore, why I chose as my first point of
address the importance of plaifi speaking upon all matters affecting truth
and character. If we had more such plain speaking it would be a great
advantage to us all. It must, however, be understood that as between
man and man, where there is plain speaking on the one side there must
be liberty of equal plainness on the other. Plain speaking must not be
played at as a game of mere skill or chance ; it must proceed upon
distinct moral convictions, and come out of a sincere piety, a deep
reverence for all that is holy, beautiful, good. Plain speaking, thus
arising and thus applied, would become one of the most influential
agents in the purification of our social intercourse. Many men speak
plainly, but they speak their plain words so that the right individual
may have no opportunity of hearing them. There are some men who
are very courageous when the enemy is at least ten miles off. There
are many persons who imagine that they have actually spoken plainly
to the individuals who have been hypocritical and false when they have
told their friends, in a semi-confidential tone, that they very nearly said
so and so. It is in this way we play with our consciousness. We think
that if we have very nearly said it, and told somebody else how nearly
we' did say it, that we have actually gone nine-tenths of the way of
saying it and of defending righteousness and truth. We know very well
when men speak to us hypocritically. Alas, what skill we have attained
in withholding the word of condemnation under such circumstances !
Were we courageous, were we equal to the occasion, we should soon
put an end to a good deal of the common hypocrisy of the world.

Here is a man, for example, who tells a friend of mine that he did
not think I preached sound doctrine. I am only supposing the case.
On a certain occasion that same man comes to me and says, " Sir, I
cannot thank you enough for that discourse ; it did me a world of
good." Meanwhile the third party has been to me and given me in-
formation of the adverse criticism. What is my duty ? If I were a
man in Christ I should say, "Thou hypocrite!" Yes, and the man
would stagger and fall back. He would wonder what the matter was ;
he would think the foundations of the earth had begun to shake under
his feet. I should put that man right, with his double face and his
double tongue, if I could say to him, " Thou hypocrite ! thou hast
already pronounced adversely upon that discourse, — away ! " ^Vhy, he
would think, if he had the power of thought left, that a lightning-bolt
had struck him, and it would be such a lesson to him as is rarely given
in the schools of men. Were I so to say I should take the right course.
Instead of that I begin to whine over him and to thank him, and to
tell him how very encouraging his word is. Then I go home and say,
" What a coward you are ! You knew what the wretch had said behind
your back : why did you not look straight at him and charge him
. with it ? " That is the only way of clearing the air and putting
things right.

Plain Speaking 307

Here is an individual widi whom, let me again suppose, I have
certain important relations. He and I have to meet upon some very-
difficult and delicate business on the Sabbath Day, — business afifecting
the sanctuary and the advancement of Christ's kingdom amongst men.
He knows that the business is of a very critical kind ; that it will load
him, more or less, with responsibility, and call him to the discharge of
certain duties which are certainly not pleasing in themselves. The man,
by some curious combination of events which I shall not further de-
scribe, feels "not very well" on Saturday evening, gets worse towards
bedtime, and is unable to come out on the Sunday. But he is at work
by nine o'clock on Monday morning, having most mysteriously and
providentially revived ! He meets me during the week and says, " I
am very sorry I could not be with you on Sunday, but really I felt any-
thing but well." Were I man I should say to him, " Thou hypocrite !
away with thee ! " And then what would the man do ? He would give
up his seat ! Men do not like plain speaking. It is a mercy for many
seat-holders that Jesus Christ is not upon the earth now ; and a very
blessed providence to many preachers and teachers that they have not
to talk over many of their lessons face to face with their Master when
their work is done every night. They have to do so by and by. But
they put their confidence in some delusion that, somehow or other, they
will escape at last. This is the difficulty : — There is not a man here
who who would not applaud sincerity as much as I should ; yet when
we come to apply sincerity, we all quail before it and protest against it.
It is so in the exposition of divine truth. I may stand here, and say in
general terms to all the world, " You are sinners before God," and I
should be declared to be laying down sound doctrine. But if I lay my
hand upon any one man and say, " You are a bad man," you will say I
have offended him and been rude to him. We can sit and hear the
world condemned and sentenced to be hanged ; but when all this
generality is narrowed down to a personal application — without which
application the doctrine is simply sounding brass — we begin to complain
that we have been rudely treated. We grow more and more away from
the candour which underlies and beautifies all truly sincere speech.
We begin in childhood with wonderful candour, beautiful simplicity of
intercourse, and we grow away from that into conventionality and
artificialism ; and he is the clever man who can best conceal himself.
A lady was talking some time ago, and in the course of her speech she
said that a friend of hers had very much injured his /^eye. A little boy
heard her, and looking at her most seriously he said, " You should not
say htyt ; you should say eye." Ten years after that the little boy will
never think of telling a person who falsely uses the aspirate of such a
fault as that ; he will feel quite shame-faced when anybody tells him
that once he spoke so to a lady. But will he be a better man for it ?
What will he do twenty years after ? He will then go to some little
secret company and say, " I heard so and so yesterday, and she called
the eye a /;eye," and they will all laugh over it. And that will be called
courtesy and self-restraint and propriety ! No. The little boy was in
the right of it. If people would speak thus plainly — being willing,
observe, to be spoken to again with equal plainness, and that, too, in 9,

3o8 The City 'Temple

right spirit — there would be a good deal of practical schoolmastering
done in the world. Jesus Christ always spoke plainly. He never went
behind people's backs to tell them of their moral mispronunciations and
and their moral deceitfulness. He spoke all that was in his heart con-
cerning those wickednesses to the people themselves, and thus he often
got himself to be misunderstood and ill-treated. The disciples came to
him and said, " Knowest thou that the Pharisees were offended when
they heard this saying ? " People have come to me with the self-same
thing, and I have been coward enough to regret my plainness of speech.
If I have spoken shiveringly, directly to a man, and have heard after-
wards that he was " offended," I have blamed myself I have a right to
blame myself if the speech came out of an e\il spirit, but in so far as it
was spoken with the dignity of truth and the consciousness of innocence
it ought not to have occasioned even a momentary pang of self-
reproach.

Society would be much improved by the infusion of Christian
sincerity into its speech. We tell lies, we write lies, and we act lies.
The post will not go away to-morrow that will not probably convey a
false impression to the most of people who receive our communications.
We tell people we are glad to see them, when we are exceedingly sorry.
We say we shall be most happy to do so and so, when all the time in
our hearts we are regretting that ever we were asked to do anything of
the kind. It is at this point that our christian profession should come
upon us with accusing force, reproaching us, and exciting our conscience
to the highest point of retribution. I can imagine some hearers, being
misdirected by this kind of exposition, taking the liberty to speak plainly
to other people, forgetting that they themselves are to take in their turn
when needful equal plainness of speech.

Two things are required in the plain speaker. Personal rightness.
" Let him that is without sin cast the first stone." We have nothing to
do with the hypocrisies which may exist between other people, except
in so far as we know them personally ; but when hypocrisy is practised
upon ourselves, then the scathing word of truth may be spoken. More,
however, than personal rightness is needed : there must also be moral
fearlessness. Our courage is not always equal to our convictions. We
know the right, and yet dare not pursue it. The right word suggests
itself to our lips, and our lips dare not pronounce it. What manner of
persons ought we to be who profess Christ ? We are not discussing
common laws of social courtesy and common intercourse. We are now
asking ourselves in Christ's presence, and in the presence of his great
Cross, what ought to be our sincerity, transparency, reality, as the
bearers of his gracious name ? If we dabble in immoral excuses, if we
shuffle and dodge and stoop and wriggle, what can we expect of men
who profess nothing higher than common courtesy and common con-
ventional relationship as between man and man ? Yet this is a most
difficult point to carry into practice, because we may show a hypocritical
love of the right ; our very plainness of speech may come out of a subtle
hypocrisy ; and we may think to get ourselves reputation for honesty by
speaking coarsely to other people. It is no easy matter this, and
nothing can help us to do it with dignity and tenderness and self-

Plain Speaking Jpg

distrust, with modesty and trembling, and yet with emphasis, but the
indwelling, all-sanctifying Holy Ghost !

The second point to which the text calls our attention is the far-
seeing spirit of prophecy. Jesus Christ said to the men of his day,
" Esaias prophesied of you." Esaias prophesied hundreds of years
before they lived. Jesus Christ says to the men of his day, " Esaias
had you in his eye." Observe the unity of the moral world ; observe
the unchangeableness of God's laws ; see how right is ever right and
wrong is ever wrong ; how the centuries make no difference in the
quality of righteousness, and fail to work any improvement in the de-
formity of evil. If any man would see himself as he really is, let him
look into the mirror of holy scripture. God's book never gets out of
date, because it deals with eternal principles and covers the necessities
of all mankind. Let us then study the word of God more closely. No
man can truly know human nature, who does not read two Bibles, —
namely, the Bible of God as written in the holy scriptures, and the
Bible of God as written in his own heart and conscience. Human
nature was never so expounded as it is expounded in holy writ. No
man ever comes to this book without feeling that his particular case — in
all the minuteness of its detail, in all the subtlety of its mystery — has
been dealt with by the holy writers. We praise other books because of
the knowledge of human nature which they display, and we are right in
making them one standard of our admiration and applause. We delight
in a writer's power of analysing human nature, human feeling, human
conduct, ^^^e say, " He knows human nature thoroughly." Therefore
such writers get hold of us and carry us away captive, and rightly so.
If that be a true standard of judgment at all, I bind men who have not
lost all candour and all simplicity to look at the Bible in the light of
their own standard. The Bible exposes the very innermost recesses of
human nature ; sets a light where no other hand ever placed a candle ;
lights up the pathways of our most secret life and thought ; and we
begin to feel that the first book we must shut up when we are going to
do evil is GocTs Book. This is the great hold, the sovereign mastery,
which the Book of God has over the ages, — that it knows us, that it
gives articulation to our dumb reproaches, that it puts into the best
words the things which we reap against ourselves and cannot fully
explain. Esaias knew us ; Jeremiah has analysed and dissected and
anatomised us. If any man would know the human heart, he must read
the human heart in God's Book.

The third point to which we are called in these words is the high
autho7'ity of the righteous ce?isor. When Jesus Christ spoke in this case
he did not speak altogether in his own name. He used the name of
Esaias. All time is on the side of the righteous man ; all history puts
weapons into the hands of the man who would be valiant for truth.
The righteous man does not draw his authority from yesterday. The
credentials of the righteous man are not written with ink that is hardly
dry yet. It draws from all the Past. A good man does not stand
alone in his good works. The man who comes to teach truth brings a
great multitude with him. The glorious company of the apostles, the
noble army of martyrs, the goodly fellowship of the prophets ! We are

3IO The City Temple

little in ourselves, in our individuality ; looked at in our simple per-
sonality, we are not worthy of a moment's consideration. But the man
who lifts up his voice for truth and right speaks with the sound of
mighty thunderings and the impressiveness of many waters. Believe
this, you young preachers of the gospel. It is not your little bit of
paper that you are depending upon as your authority when you enter
into the pulpit. Believe this, teachers of the young, — believe this,
parents, in your family education, — business men, in your commercial
relations, — honourable souls of all kinds : — When you speak a right
word, the prophets speak through you, the apostles prolong the strain,
and the grand old martyrs seal it with their blood ! Thus the tiniest
instrument in God's hand becomes a match for walled cities and for-
tressed hosts and men who set themselves against the Lord and against
his anointed. You are poor in number now, meagre in agency ; but
they that are for you are more than they that are against you. You
seem to be alone, but you are not alone. Esaias is looking over your
shoulder ; Jeremiah is saying, " Be emphatic ;" martyrs are crying,
" Play the man for truth ;" all history says, " Don't fail : this is a crisis ;
the right word now is a battle won." Speak it ! " Be thou like the
heroic Paul ; if thou hast a truth to utter, speak it boldly, speak it
all ! "

The men whom Jesus Christ condemned were outwardly very
good looking man. For example, they were very technical. They said,
" The disciples do not wash their hands ; this is a very sad business,
and must be enquired into." They were very particular in saying how
often it was to be done, which hand was to be uppermost, and how the
evolution was to proceed. They were also a very critical set of men ;
they criticised the disciples. They were not shame-faced about their
technicality ; they went right up to the Master and said, '* How is this ?"
There was courage in the men. They had a complaint, and they spoke
it out clearly. Then they had great reverence ; strong veneration for
traditional practices, traditional customs. They did not like the Past to
be altogether ignored and dishonoured ; they spoke in the name of the
elders. So the men were not altogether bad, you observe. They were
technical, they were critical, they were traditional. Jesus turned upon
them this bolt of thunder, " Why do ye also transgress the command-
ment of God by your tradition ? " They never caught Jesus Christ un-
awares. He never had to ask for time to go home and find a suitable
weapon, and then for additional time to whet its edge. He was clothed
with the whole armour of God. Touch him anywhere, and his answer
was instantaneous and complete. So with us, my brethren. We may
be technical. We may like to see the order of divine service pursued in
a certain way, — first singing, then reading, then praying, then singing,
then preaching. Yes, we are strong upon these points. But what if
we can go home and do a sneaking action ? We may be critical. We
may say the preacher's grammar was not very exact ; the singing was
not what we call scientific, — there was a good deal of flatness and a
good deal of discrepancy in the way in which the psalmody was
conducted. Up to that point we are the noblest men on the face
of the earth. But what if to-morrow morning we oppress the hireling

Plain Speaking ^i\

and lay a heavy hand on the weak ? We are fond of traditions.
We like to talk about that " dear old minister" that died about fifty
years ago ; and that " nice old christian friend" that used to do no end
of beautiful things, who died about a quarter of a century since, — we
like to sit where he sat and to do what he did. We have a great rever-
ence for these men and their ways of doing things. But what if to-
morrow morning we speak a savage Avord to a lonely creature, and drive
into despair some soul that would be thankful for one ray of light ?
Away with our technicality and criticism and tradition, if we are not
sound at the core, right and true to great principles ! Let us beware
least we strain at a gnat and swallow a camel.

Then what is to be our help in all this matter of reality?
Sincerity. Jesus Christ must be the help of our souls. He who spoke
plainly must teach us to speak plainly ; he who set the example must
give us strength. And he will do it. We are not to speak as if we
ourselves were infallible, and other people were poor guilty sinners. We
are not to take upon us any air that savours of self-righteousness and
self-satisfaction. When we speak plainly we are to speak tenderly.
" Consider thyself, least thou also be tempted." We are not to treat
all men alike ; we are to discriminate ; we are to make a difference.
On some we are to have compassion ; to some men we are to speak as
the lightning would speak, if it could open its lips, in the name of God ;
to others we are to speak as the dew would speak, could it tell all that
is in its pure heart. We are to argue with some men with sternness of
tone, and we are to speak to others with heart-breaking pathos. Tears
are to be the secret of our power ; forbearance is to be our secret of
influence ; and moderation is to do what exaggeration could never
accomplish. We thus need a wise and understanding heart to know
what to say, and especially to know how to say it, because we may
ruin our cause by a tone !

What are we to do then ? We are to study Jesus Christ. " Learn
of me, for I am meek and lowly of heart." We are to copy his example,
not only in its dignity and power and lustre, but in its condescension,
humility, gentleness, tearfulness, and infinite kindness. There is a way
of administering reproach which misses its very object ; there is a way
of speaking the right word which turns it, for all practical purposes,
into the wrong word. So, then, it must be to Christ we come, and in
Christ's school we study. Lord help us to speak from the height of
thy Cross ! Knowing the mystery of love in thy love, may our lips say
the right word in the right way, and thus save souls from death and
turn many to righteousness !

312 The City Temple

Almighty God, we bless Thee for Jesus Christ as a teacher sent from
heaven. His words are words of life and power ; they search the
heart, they try the reins, of the children of men ; they are sharper than
a two-edged sword. We rejoice that Thou dost enable us to submit
ourselves to the searching criticism of Jesus Christ's word. We have
been false to ourselves ; we have concealed our true nature even from
our own eyes ; we have looked on the outside only ; we have forgotten
our inner life, the life of motive, of secret impulse, of purposes we dare
not explain ; we have looked only to our hand, when we ought to have
examined the very life of our heart. But Jesus Christ, Thy Son, doth
not spare us ; He searcheth us as with a candle ; He kindleth upon us
the flame of the Lord, and in the light of that fire he searches and tries
us, and sees if there be any wicked way in us. We rejoice in the plain-
ness and the vigour of His speech. We thank Thee that Jesus Christ
layeth the axe at the root of the tree ; we bless Thee for his radical
teaching, for his going to the roots of all evil things, for his making the
tree good that the fruit may be good, for his purifying the fountain that
the stream may be pure. May we learn of Jesus Christ in these things,
and seek to do Thy will, not as man-pleasers, not with eye-service, but
with all the simplicity of love, Avith all the strength of entire trust,
honouring goodness for its own sake, and loving truth because it is the
speech of God ! Deliver us from all deceitfulness, all falsehood, all
pretence, and enable us to serve Thee in spirit and in truth ; and out of
a life based on godly sincerity, may there come works of love, pity,
charity, and beneficence which shall bless all with whom we come in
contact ! Have mercy upon us wherein we have sinned. We have
done the things we ought not to have done, we have left undone the
things that we ought to have done. We accuse ourselves. If the sur-
face has been right the motive has been wrong ; if our hand has been
clean our heart has been leprous. Do Thou wash us in the blood of
Jesus Christ, shed for the sins of men, — the sacrificial blood which is
our propitiation, our plea, and our answer before God ! Let Thine own
people glory in the the truth, feel its power, acknowledge its sovereignty,
bless its giver. If there be before Thee, or shall come within the in-
fluence of our word to-night, any man who is hypocritical, who seeks to
cover up his real state from the eye of society and from the eye of his
own conscience, apply Thy word to such as a flame of fire, finding its
way into the secret chambers of the soul and lighting up the darkest
recesses of the life. Make us glad in the Lord ! In the world we have
mortification, disappointment, tears, broken staves piercing our hands,
much sorrow, great difficulty. But in God's house, on God's day,
gathered as we are around God's book, surely Thy children shall not
plead in vain for the gladness which comes of Thy presence ! Amen.

The City Temple.

REPORT OF A DISCOURSE DELIVERED BY

JOSEPH PARKER,

In Poultry Chapel, on Sunday Morning, June ii, 1871.

lExpositot^ aaealrinss i\\ X\\t %ti% of tje Apostles*

CHAPTER I.

6. When they therefore were come together, they asked of him, saying. Lord, wilt thou
at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel ?

7. And he said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the
Father hath put in his own power.

8. But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you : and ye shall
be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the utter-
most part of the earth.

9 . And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up ; and a
cloud received him out of their sight.

AST interviews are notably pathetic. The conversation which

is now before us took place just as Jesus Chiist was about to

leave his disciples upon the earth. We cannot but have

felt— if our reading of the gospel has been at all intelligent

and continuous — a keen interest in the enquiry, How will Jesus Christ

make an end of his earthly fellowship ? He has come into the world

in an unprecedented manner : how will he go oitt of it ? He has

N N

314 The City Temple

surrounded himself by very strange and complicated combinations :
how will he extricate himself and get away from all the entanglement of
his present life ? He came in by a door which had never been known
to any other man who had come to teach the world : what door is there
by which he can go out ? There is a sublime answer to that enquiry,
and no fancy could ever have dreamed it. He ascended ! Your
familiarity with that expression may have taken away somewhat of your
sense of its sublimity ; but try to conceive a more sublime answer !
We must have simplicity, completeness, sufficiency, to cover all the
requirements of the case. I find every element in the one reply : He
ascended I Not he struggled and panted, he strove, he made a great and
terrible effort at last, and in the midst of a paroxysm he went away.
But with the calmness of infinitude, the repose of eternity, the majesty
of godhead, He we?it up ! Set it amongst the little sentences which
stand at the top of all the great movements of God. Let there be
light ! He ascended ! These are the compressions of God's power.
Yet there was preparation made for this method of revealing his purpose
and destiny to the disciples. This was not the first time in which he
displayed his perfect mastery over things material and bodily. There
are many secret trainings we undergo without knowing that we undergo
them, until the final act comes, — then we see the meaning of the whole.
There is a great broad pathway of training ; every man is familiar with
it. But there are secret trainings, hidden disciplines, remote influences.
There is a great deal of God's schoolmastering done in the dark dis-
tance, and done unconsciously towards us. Yet at last there comes up
am act which sums the whole discipline and mystery of our life, and
gives us to see what God intended, — when we little know that He was
standing beside us, revealing Himself to our innermost soul !

Jesus Christ walked upon the sea. In that there is a training
towards the final conquest. Jesus walked through the midst of his
enemies on the hill edge, — shot through them like light that could not
be imprisoned. The disciples would remember that some day, and see
'the intended influence. Jesus Christ multiplied a few crumbs into a
great feast. It is a hint of what he will one day do on a larger and
more impressive scale. So now that the disciples are gathered around
him, whilst he is yet speaking to them, there is a strange motion in
that body which they once saw transfigured, which transfiguration now
comes in with another meaning and a higher application. Whilst he
was yet speaking to them there was a motion in the man's frame, a
quivering, a trembling ; it would almost seem as if the last tone of his
benediction fell out of the golden cloud — a voice from heaven — a bene-
diction from the skies !

An incident like this ought to be full of instruction to us. Amongst
its many points of mterest let us try to find a few. First of all, the
long-lingering influence of early notmis, theories, suppositions, and fancies,
Jesus Christ is speaking his last words to the disciples. Even then, at
the very time of separation, they say, " Wilt thou at this time restore
again the kingdom to Israel ? " One of their old hopes ; one of the
tnost deep-rooted feeUngs, assurances, and convictions of their ilU

Expository Readings 3^5

disciplined minds. Can a man ever get away from his infancy? What
a great and terrible responsibility, then, is yours that have to deal with
the mind in its first openings, that have the very earliest interviews with
human life, that meet souls just as they come from God and set a seal
upon them ! Let us teach as little as possible that children will have to
unlearn ; as far as it is practicable, their first notions, right notions.
Herein we require the very highest teaching, the very highest genius
and power of the church, to teach a c//i/d. You pronounce a word — a
harsh, profane word — and that one word will leave a black spot on
your child's soul for ever. You do some worldly, selfish, naughty deed,
and that one deed sends a chill through the child's soul that it never
quite recovers. It may be overcome tor years ; the memory may lie
still through half a lifetime ; yet, oh, it comes up when you don't want
it to come ! It blasts many a fair hope, and turns many a holy dream
into a tormenting nightmare !

Jesus Christ did not treat this enquiry of the disciples in a spirit of
rebuke. If they had laid hold only of a little part of the truth, he did not
strike their knuckles as if they were to blame for not having grasped the
great all-truth. We shall miss the spirit and genius of our Lord's reply
if we suppose that he rebuked the disciples, — that he treated the dis-
ciples as- though they had put an irrelevant or impertinent question to
him. He does nothing of the kind. He was more interested in the
kingdom of Israel than ever they could be. He had a higher and
better purpose about Jew and Gentile than ever could enter into their
little hearts. But he addresses them from the greater truth, and covers
their small notion and little paltry conception with the infinite light of
his own love and truth and purpose. Hear his correcting yet comfortfng
words : " It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the
Father hath put in his own power." Where our human knowledge ends,
God's " own power" is to be felt round about us. The " I know" is
quite a little circle. God's " own power" is an immeasurable infinitude
in which that little circle is set. " It is not for you to know," — that
seems final, reproachful, almost contemptuous. " Which the Father hath
put in his own power, "^that is elevating, stimulating, calling to trust,
dependence, devoutness, and rest of soul in God. God has put a// the
future in his own power ; not only the future of the kingdom of Israel,
but every man's future ; your to-morrow and mine he has put in his
own power. Yet how much time we spend in teasing his hand, as if we
could open that great fist of his and take the treasure out of it ! He
says, " To-morrow is mine, the future of Israel is mine, the develop-
ment of the world is mine, the difficulty of getting out of difficulties is
mine. You have your limitations : within those you may be wise and
strong ; overleaping them you shall have the fate of wicked trespassers."
Observe, then, how gentleness immediately succeeds the communication
of strict law.

We come in the eighth verse upon a different tone. So many of
us have been afraid of that word " B?<t" This is a word which opens
a door in heaven, and through the opening space there streams an in-
tolerable radiance. " But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy
Ghost is come upon you." His last word did not shut them up within

3i6 The City Temple

a limit that was unworthy of their greatness, unworthy of their training,
unworthy of their destiny. In his very last word there is a tone of
law, — Thou shalt, thou shalt not. In that last interview there was
also — shall we call it a sub-tone ? it was more than that — there was
another tone, which promised complete, unexpected, inimitable, bene-
ficent " power." A most gentle word ! The few men around him just
about to be left in the world, as it were, by themselves, — with traditions
which were painful mysteries, with relationships into which they had
been brought by his own teaching and which would impose upon them
almost incessant suffering. Now he is about to leave them. What do
they want ? Jesus always says the right word at the right time. " You
want power, and power you shall have." A most beautiful and instruc-
tive promise ! The disciples were, in themselves, earthen vessels, in
whom was no treasure ; bruised reeds, having no strengths ; poor, little,
empty creatures, without power of originality, without mastery, without
social influence. To them Jesus addresses this promise, " You shall
have power. ^' , All blessings are included in one. When Jesus rose
from the dead and came to his disciples, he said, " All power is given to
me." Whatever a man has must be turned into power, or it will baffle
him, it will enfeeble him ; he will be the victim of his own possessions
if they get the upper hand of him ; he must turn them into potuer. This
power was associated with the gifts of the Holy Ghost. It was spiritual
power. Not only the power of thinking, the power of recollecting ;
but a holy power, a sanctifying power, the power that tranfigured the
corrupt into the pure, the low into the great and noble, — the power that
turned all life into a sacrament, into solemn worship. Nor did the
promise end there. So far it was but personal. It might have rested
upon the men themselves ; it might have been communicated to them
as an individual blessing, to be nourished in their own hearts, to be
kept within the secrecy of their own bosoms. So Jesus Christ having
spoken the word of promise and consolation, puts the trumpet to his lips
and sounds a call to service, to war, to suftering. " And ye shall be
witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in Judea and Samaria, and
unto the uttermost part of the earth." When were they to be such
witnesses ? After they had received the power. When are we to be
witnesses for Christ ? When the Holy Ghost has come upon us.
Observe how much larger was the idea of Christ than the speculation of
his disciples. The mind of the disciples was occupied with an enquiry
about a particular kingdom ; the mind of Christ was occupied with the
wants of the whole world. The disciples thought about Israel ; Jesus
thought about man. The disciples were busying themselves about
restoration; Jesus was thinking about Redemption. " My thoughts are
not your thoughts, neither are my ways your ways, saith the Lord ; for
as the heaven is high above the earth, so are my ways than your ways,
and my thoughts than your thoughts." The largest man is the man
who knows most about Christ and does his will most perfectly. The
christian ought to be the largest-minded man in the world. Jesus never
shuts a man up within a little space and says, " That will do for you."
Jesus never contracts a man's intellect ; Jesus never looks Avith con-
tempt upon a man's service. He calls men from the little to the great,

Expository Readings 317

from the local to the universal, from the kingdom of Israel to the
whole globe !

Should not this have an eftect upon you young men, who are
touched with great ambitions and feel noble aspirations ? The testi-
mony of the church to you is this : — T/iat noi/ung so enlarges the mind,
so liberates the power, so stimulates the energy, as an acceptance of Christ's
word. It never lets a man be-little and fetter himself Christ's call is
a call to light and liberty, to spacious position, and to lofty and world-
embracing service. Look at the sphere — Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria,
uttermost parts of the earth. What a method of putting the case that
was ! He accustoms the disciples to the line of advance. He does not
come down upon them at once with " the great globe itself" He uses
familiar words ; refers to well-accustomed places — Jerusalem, Judea,
Samaria ; still they were in their own country, still they were hearing
familiar terms. " And unto the uttermost part of the earth." Even
this is in harmony with his method of revelation. Litde by little, from
the known to the unkno\^ai, from the plain to the mysterious, — from
the little child, toddling and tumbling on its first journey, to the stal-
wart, hardy soldier, on the far-away hill, away from home, a stranger to
comfort and rest.

Look at the method of service as well as the method of revelation.
" Beginning at Jerusalem." Begin on known ground. There is a
wonderful secret of power in this. Some of us know it almost too well.
We must have certain conditions around us or we cannot work. Some
men cannot preach out of their own pulpits. Some men can preach but
to their own congregations. They have confidence there ; they are
surrounded by loving sympathy, and they trust it, and they can work
best there ; it is only little by little they get away to mastery over the
thinking and feeling of strangers. But this is a philosophical, statesman-
like method : — Begin at Jerusalem, in Judea, in Samaria, and the utter-
most part of the earth. What would be the eftect of this ? Aggression !
And by and by the men would come upon their own footprints. They
start from Jerusalem ; away they go from country to country, from sea
to sea, until they come upon the ground that they seem to know, — and
Peter puts his feet in his own footprints, and the disciples are once
more at the city, at the metropolis, from whence they started. And so,
from the rising of the sun to the going down of the same the name of
their Lord has been testified on every tongue, declared before all man-
kind ! Look at the heroic boldness, the divine egotism, the imperial
self-assertion. "Witnesses unto w^." Where? In Nazareth, in the
little village, in the contemptible place ? " To the uttermost parts of
the earth." Oh, Galilean, child of Mary, son of the carpenter,
Thou hast in Thee surely the fulness of the godhead ! The disciples
were to be witnesses, not original thinkers, not starters and projectors —
witnesses. A beautiful word and full of instruction. " What do you
know about the case?" the examiner says to the witness. The witness
testifies to facts. The witness does not begin to say, " I think," and
" I believe," and " My impression is." We can't have that. That is
where the church ruins itself, — in thinking about things, and speculating
about things, and suggesting things which lie far beyond the line of

3i8 The City Temple

fact. Have your foundation of facts right, and then build. Be right in
your facts, and you need not starve your fancy ; be right in your funda-
mental positions, in your historical bases ; then I for one shall give
you the largest liberty of architectuie, — only we must be right about the
rock which underlies the whole !

The church is to be a witness. A man cannot be a witness upon
mere hearsay ; if he testify upon mere hearsay, his testimony is of very
little value. The man in the gospel sets us the right example. The
Pharisees tried to confuse him, to catch him off his guard, to tempt him
and lure him, — but he held to this one testimony, " Whether he be
a sinner or no, I know not ; one thing I know" — quite enough for any
man to know. What was it ? Was the one thing that he healed that
man's father? No. This: " Once I was blind and noio I see. You
cannot shake that out of me. Why should you be wrinkling your fore-
heads, and cudgelling your brains, and provoking me with little baffling
questions ? I myself am a fact." It will be a poor ministry if the
minister can only talk about facts, — if the minister be not himself the
explanatory fact of his own doctrine. " Have ye received the Holy
Ghost ? " How are we to know that we have received the Holy Ghost ?
By the presence of power. That is the short, direct answer. Have we
power, or are we apologising for existence, and daily excusing ourselves
for being here at all ? Have we to edge ourselves in, as it were ; "by
your leave, gentlemen," to stand to see what is being done in the world ?
Have we a right answer to man's deepest difficulties ? When a man
comes into this house and listens to the minister, is he given to feel that
he hears the echo of a voice that can tell him what he wants to know ?
Is the minister a revealer to him ? Does the minister speak light to
him ? Does every word of the man's lips open a door, break down a
difficulty, bridge a gulf, and send the pilgrim rejoicing on his way ?
That is how we know we have the Holy Ghost, because we have poiuer.

The church ought to be the most powerful institution in the
world, — to have the one answer of the soul's most vexing problems, —
the one cure of the soul's sorest disease. Men must be given to feel
that they have hewn out to themselves broken cisterns ; that when other
people spoke peace, peace to them was no peace. And not until they
came to hear of the living God did they hear a word that went through
them, arrested them, compelled their attention, and put them on one of
two courses, — either developing their lives into an incessant blasphemy,
or developing them into a continuity of holy, restful worship. God of
the light, of the great heaven and the little earth, baptize us as with fire !
Amen, amen.

The City Temple 319

Almighty God, we draw near to Thy Throne without fear or trembling,
because Thou hast exhorted us to come boldly unto the throne of
grace. We come that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help us
in time of need. Our life is one crying want. We have nothing that
we have not received ; Thou art the Giver of every good gift and every
perfect gift. We humbly desire, therefore, to thank Thee for all the
mercies we enjoy, and all the grace which has strengthened and soothed
our life ; for all the hope which has inspired us in the dark and cloudy
day ; and for the manifold comforts which hath healed our diseases and
consoled us when the help of man was vain. We have come up from
our households that we may bless God in his own house. We have
come to speak the praises of the Most High God, for Thy mercy, O
King of saints, endureth for ever ! We have not forsaken the assembling
of ourselves together, as the manner of some is ; but with one accord
are found in one place, and we lift up our hearts with one consent.
Each worshipper brings his own tribute, each heart has its own song,
each hand its own gift. Yet have we common mercies, for which we
can find common praises. We can all unite in praising Thee for the
light of the heavens, the air on which we live. Thou hast spread out
table in the wilderness ; when we had no bread Thou didst multiply the
crumbs that were left ; when the cruise of oil did fail. Thou didst cause
it to flow on ; when the staff broke in our hands, Thou didst give unto
us Thy rod and Thy staft^, and they comforted us ; when the road was
hilly and stony and difficult, Thou didst uphold us with strength un-
failing, Thou didst bring us to the mountain top ; when the wind was
cold, Thou didst shield us from its blast ; when the dark night came
suddenly down upon us, Thou didst set Thine eye in the darkness, and
behold, it was bright as day beneath our feet ! What shall we render
unto the Lord for all his benefits towards us ? Some have come from
the toils of business, the anxieties of earthly life, and are hardly able to
emancipate themselves from recollections and apprehensions, from fears
and suggestions, which are unfavourable to worship, and which mar the
continuity of their contemplation and interfere with the stream of their
devotional love. Do Thou grant them release from all worldly tor-
ments, from all earthly cares, and give Thy people to feel the liberty of
heaven, the joy of the presence of God 1 Some have returned to Thy
house after long absence ; Thou hast seen fit to lay them aside from the
busy crowd, to give them hours of pain, days of restlessness, and nights
of weariness. Now that they have returned to public worship, they
desire to speak of the goodness of God, His peace. His healing power,
and to be thankful for his sustaining grace. Lord hear the grateful
psalm of such, and abundantly sustain and comfort them, now that they
have formed resolutions of intenser devotion and more constant love.
Most of us have brought sorrow with Us ; some little shadow or dark
cloud, some wearing grief, some tormenting, oppressive burden,—

320 The City Temple

sorrows we cannot tell, we dare not sigh, lest listeners should suspect
the hidden grief. We can only bow down ourselves before God, pray-
ing that the sorrows of our life may be sources of joy ; that out of our
very grief we may be able to extract honey which shall refresh the
strength of our souls. Do Thou sanctify the discipline of life to us ;
give us control over events and circumstances, so far as to enable us to
feel that Thy shaping hand is moving amid all the chaos of life and that
Thou art working out Thine own wondrous order and beauty. It will
be enough for us if we know Thou art near, and that Thy throne
absorbs all other powers. The stranger is here, far away from home ;
the young man is here, far from early association and restraint of home
love ; the wanderer is here, not knowing why he was born, surrounded
by difficulties, depressed, almost despairing ; the unsuccessful man, who
has knocked at a thousand doors, and no kindly hand has opened one
to him that he might have hospitality ; the hypocrite, with well-set
visor, with double-painted mask, well fitted to his face, the man who
can say words with his lips which were never dictated by his heart ;
the enquirer is here, tossed about by doubt and difficulty and perplexity,
sincere in his heart, yet there is a heavy mist upon all his thinking, and
he is groping his way towards God, towards life ; the little child is
here — the summer bud, the June flower — and even the parent's eye
cannot foresee altogether the development and destiny. Look upon us
as we are before Thee ! Lift up those that be bowed down. Strike the
visor from the false face. Soothe the sorrowing ; dry the tears of grief.
Give stimulus and strength to every man in whom there is high aspira-
tion, to every heart in which there is a noble purpose. Enable us all,
whether tottering on the brink of the grave, or looking out from earliest
life upon all the wonders of existence, to know that Thou art our
Father, our Redeemer, our Sanctifier, and in God may we have our
being ! Have mercy upon us, Thou loving one ! Thou delightest to
forgive : we all need Thy forgiveness. Help us from our heart of hearts
to confess our sins. May we show how truly we confess it by the in-
tensity of our hatred of it. When we own our guilt, may we tremble
and be in despair, until we see the Cross, the light of the advancing
Saviour, the Lamb of God which taketh away the sins of the world.
Wash us, and we shall be clean. Let Thy blessing now go from con-
gregation to congregation, from minister to minister, until all who are
engaged in worship feel the fire of devotion glowing in their hearts.
May souls to-day be reclaimed, be re-established, be edified, be
comforted. Thus at eventide we shall be a Sabbath Day's journey
nearer home ! Amen.

The City Temple.

REPORT OF A DISCOURSE DELIVERED BY

JOSEPH PARKER,

In Poultry Chapel, on Sunday Morning, June i8, 1871.

CHAPTER I.

10. And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven as he went up, behold, two men
stood by them in white apparel.

1 1. Which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven ? this same
JesuSj which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen
him go into heaven.

12. Then returned they unto Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is from
Jerusalem a sabbath day's journey.

13. And when they were come in, they went up into an upper room, where abode both
Peter, and James, and John, and Andrew, Philip, and Thomas, Bartholomew, and Matthew,
James the son of Alphxus, and Simon Zelotes, and Judas the brother of James.

14. These all continued with one accord in prayer and snpplication, with the women,
and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brethren.

HERE are four points in this text. First, — Men overpowered
and dispossessed of self-control in the presence of a wondrous
revelation. The disciples were evidently overcome ; they
were in a state ot inexpressible surprise ; the surprise was,
perhaps, in some degree extatic ; they had never seen this sight before.
o o

32^ The City Temple

A thousand memories crowded upon them ; strange anticipations of the
future agitated them. The men were simply overwhelmed, confounded
by the wondrousness of the spectacle on which they gazed. You know
what this is in common life. There are moments in which men are not
themselves. Great events suddenly happen, and all presence of mind
is taken away from the individuals to whom they occur or before whom
they transpire. Men that in ordinary circumstances are sagacious, that
know what to do and how to do it, are suddenly thrown oft their
balance and altogether incapacitated for service in the presence of some
stupendous act or under the influence of some most unexpected and
overpowering event. Joy has that effect upon men. Sometimes they
cannot speak for joy. Sometimes children have seen sights which have
taken away their power of speech ; the thing was so unexpected,
Was under some circumstances perhaps so joyful or so full of promise,
that all their little powers have been taken at a disadvantage, and they
. have not been able to tell in anything like straightforward sentences
what their joy is. It is the same with men. Men open letters con-
veying unexpected intelligence, — it may be painful, it may be pleasing ;
tio matter, the effect is the same. All power of regulation, control,
counsel, movement in relation to the affair, seem to be taken away from
them. In the case before us, you have a number of men transfixed,
gazing upon the heavens. A cloud has received their Lord out of their
sight j they would see him no more. Yet they look up as if they might
see him again : one moment, one sunny moment, would be to them an
eternal pleasure I

The thing to be observed in connection with this exposition is,
that this is the natural effect of all christian revelation. The natural and
proper effect of God's communications to the heart of man, of God's
presentations of himself to the human eye or the human understanding,
is surprise, elevation, bewilderment, or ecstacy. Perhaps this sounds to
you like a novel statement. It is only novel because we have worn oft"
the finest edge of our christian sensibility. When the angels came
down and visited the shepherds in the plain, the shepherds were afraid;
when the angels spake to the women who came to the Lord's sepulchre,
the women were afraid. This is the natural effect of all divine revela-
tion. A man ought not to allow himself to get into that state in which
he can receive divine communications, or see divine effects, without
sensibility. I question whether a man ought to allow himself to grow
downwards so completely as to be able to look upon a great mountain
and think nothing of it. This is on-e of the penalties of familiarity. A
man comes from what you who are born in London call the country ;
and he looks at St. Paul's, and is dumb, is overpowered. " Why," he
.says, " I can't see anything more than this to-day, this week : this is
enough. This is a prayer in stone ; this is a poem caught on its way to
heaven." And there is hardly a shopboy in London who does not feel
it incumbent upon him to sneer at the man from " the country," stand-
ing and looking in that way at St. Paul's. AVe ought not to allow our-
selves to get so familiar with great revelations of human genius, and
especially the grandest declarations of divine power, as to look upon
them as if they were nothing. It is not a sign of independence or

Expository Readings 323

greatness on our part ; ' it is a sign of insensibility and incapacity to
understand the sublime or to sympathise with the beautiful. If this be
true in common things, it is specially true with the revelations of God.
To some men the testaments, old and new, are as fresh as if God had
just published them, as if the ink were hardly dry, as if the sheet had
been let down from heaven, and for the first time they saw God's word,
uTitten in God's own handwriting. Better to live in that state, better to
see new phases in the most familiar scenes, better to live in a state of
ecstacy, wonder, and bewilderment concerning things glorious and sub-
lime, than to have no eye for things shaped into infiniteness of beauty,
and for revelations which ought to sound as heavenly songs in th^
depths of our human life.

The next point is this, — Men recalled from enfeeblhii:;; reverie. It
was a beautiful thing for the men to be looking up into heaven after
their Lord, as if they could see something in the air almost like a path-
way,— as if they could see somewhat of the outline of that cloudy stair-
case up which He ascended to the higher scenes of God's creation. But
they were not to stand there always. It was good for them to look
upward, but there was something more to be done. The two men in
white apparel said, " Why stand ye gazing up into heaven ? " There is
a possibility of wasting our time in the sublimest contemplation. There
is a danger of some of us working exclusively in the line of our ideality.
When a man is naturally inclined towards ecstacy, reverie, unearthliness,
speculation, and wonderment, he ought to fight against his inclination,
so as to bring it into harmony with other powers. There are persons
who miss the whole genius and meaning of Christianity because they
profess to be overwhelmed by its mysteries. Christianity is so sublime
a thing to them that they fail to see it in practical life ; they see only
the sublimity, — not the practical, philanthropic aspect of it. Their life
is one long ejaculation, or one useless, unprofitable sighing after the
impossible. Have we felt anything of that kind in our own experience ?
We have been happy in proportion as we have been contemplative. We
have been full of joy and full of hope in proportion as we have betaken
ourselves away from vulgar scenes, from fields of practical service, and
have sat far away from the cry and roar of the world, and looked upon
things that were ideal and sublime, supersensuous and altogether trans-
cendental. That is not a healthy state of life. It is right to be con-
templative. Contemplation may, however, be pushed too far. It is
right to have hours of rapture and ecstacy ; but a man cannot live so
always. Hence there comes, with immense force and wonderful prac-
tical meaning, to our hearts this enquiry, " Why stand ye gazing into
heaven ? " Who asked the question ? Two men in white apparel. Who
were they? I am inclined to conjecture that they were Moses and
Elias. I think I know their voices again, having become familiar with
their unprecedented tone through the Old Testament. Is it not the
ring of their clear voices, " Why stand ye gazing ? " There is something
Mosaic in that enquiry, — there is something of the power and passion of
Elias there. We, too, my brethren, are watched by the old master-
workers of the world ! " Seeing, then, that we are encompassed by so

3-24 ^'^^ ^^^y Temple

great a cloud of witnesses," why should our life be a life of mere gazing
and contemplation when there is work to do and we are called to do it ?
When the women went to our Lord's sepulchre, they looked down into
the tomb, and the angel said, " Why seek ye the living among the

. dead ? " So we are not always to be looking down into the death-pit.
When the disciples were looking up, rapt and entranced, a strange light
radiating from their rugged faces, two men clothed in white apparel, like
the robe of the angels, said, "Why stand ye gazing up ? " So we are not
always to be looking j/p into heaven. Here is a lesson upon attitudes,

I upon christian postures. Looking down, — not always ; looking up, —
not for ever. " Why seek ye the living among the dead ? " may be said
to every mother who goes to look at the few inches of daisy-covered
sod under which her little child lies. " Why stand ye gazing up ? "
may be said to all the mystics, idealists, and transcendentalists who
spend their life in pursuing airy dreams, airy nothings. What, then,
is to be our attitude ? Look about you I Look at the things that make
up your day, that constitute your field of sympathy and service and
kind concern. Whensoever you look up, know that there is meaning in
upward looks, power comes from heaven-directed glances. But we are
only to look up that we may be inspired to do the work, that lies
nearest to our hands.

1 The third point is, — Men instructed and comforted by a promise.

" This same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so
come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven." The same

' Jesus! Who wants an amended Christ ? Who would care to have
another version, phase, aspect of His name and person and ministry ?

' " This same Jesus," who knows you, who taught you, who died for you,
who saved you, who has in him all the old dear memories, — " this same
Jesus shall come again." One would like to see Jesus of Nazareth and
Capernaum, one would like to see the carpenter's son ; one would not
like him to be so changed that those who knew him first know him no
longer. We want such elements of identity, at least, as shall enable
those who knew him first to say with glad recognition, " This is the

' same Christ." He is promised to come again, — come in like manner,
with the same voluntary motion, in the same subhme fashion, with all
the grandeur of the old masterliness, sovereign in will, imperial in
command, gentle in spirit, pure as God, tenderer than woman ! The
world cannot live without promise. We cannot be strong without
poetry. We must have dream and fancy and singing words ; musical
rhythmic sentences that shall sing to us when other voices are silent, that
ever sing of the one thing— an unclouded perfect future.

The fourth point is, — Men betaking themselves to the right pre-
• paration for the future. The men are bewildered, lonely, more or less
sad. Conflicting emotions heave their hearts. Sometimes diey don't
know whether they will break out into the laughter and triumph of
ecstacy and joy, or they will break down into such tears as strong dis-
appointed natures only can shed. To what do they betake themselves
under such circumstances ? They go back to Jerusalem, the city that

Expository Readings 3^5

had killed their Lord ; they go back fearless, courageous, simple-
minded, delivered from all fear of men. There are some visions that
make new creatures of us ; some sights that give us new power ; some
events that lift us out of our slavery and make us more than con-
querors. Here you have a few men going back into Jerusalem stronger
than ever they were in their lives, though their visible Lord is no longer
by their side. What do they pursue as their first exercise ? This :
" All continued with one accord in prayer and supplication." He pre-
pares best for the future who puts his future into the keeping of God !
He is most master of to-morrow who has no to-morrow but God's Avill !
There are times, O sceptical hearer, when we 7nHst pray ! Your theories
break down at certain points. When we are well and strong and happy
and prosperous, your theories look like very beautiful web-work,
wonderfully executed and very exquisite in earthly beauty. But when
heart and flesh do fail, when there is a great collapse in all that made
our world, when circumstances darken and nature gathers round us like
a frown which means ruin, when joy has been taken out of the heart
and our treasures have been smitten, — we must pray ! We must pray,
if it is only to a pillar ; the heart must cry out, if only to the distant
clouds or the cold stars, shining away without knowing human sorrow or
human madness. We must pray ! Those say so who know it best.
" They all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication." See
the prayer meeting there was ! Yonder is Peter. You never expected
to see him again after he cursed and swore and denied his Lord, — but
there he is. There is no occasion for you who may have committed
some terrible crime no longer to be found in prayer meetings and in
church engagements. There is a way in as there was a way out. The
way out was discipline, the way in is penitence. " These all ? " But
there is one wanting, — Judas. These all ? Thomas, the doubting man,
the man that would see before he would believe, and who would touch
before he would say he had seen his Lord. Here he is. Peter, a
reclaimed apostate ; Thomas, a consolidated power : names that stand
at the top of human nomenclature, and names that are obscure and
difficult to remember, — they are all here. The women were there.
Mary the mother of Jesus, and Jesus Christ's brethren. Mary the
mother of Jesus ! Her position that day was more than official ; she
held no office ; she did not take the presidential chair ; she did not
dictate the course of the proceedings ; she did not call upon the
disciples in the order in which they were to pray. We have no reason
to believe that she did any of these things. But there is something
better than office. There are times when a litUe child becomes a his-
tory to us ; when the little child that can hardly reach up to your table
seems to centralise all your life. Sometimes we meet persons in whose
presence we feel a kind of intellectual elevation and sanctification,
because they have spoken to some great man. You know Avhat
this is. Persons who have seen a great genius like to get together
and talk the case over, and the very sight of that one dominating
personage has constituted those who saw him into a kind of intellec-
tual church.

^t6 The City Temple

Mary the mother of Jesus ! She had touched hun before any of
them had touched him ; she had seen him grow up day by day ; her
heart had been pierced through and through on his account. Altogether
there was something about her that made the place feel very sacred.
So it must be in our life, or it will be a poor, poor life, if now and again
we do not come upon a child, a man, a friend, in whose presence we
feel all the sanctity of the past and the inspiration of the future.
Brethren, I call you to-day, not to Mary the mother, but to Jesus
the Son. We have not seen Him yet. He will come again !

C!)e i?ra^ei%

Almighty God, Thou hast opened a door out of the darkness into
the infinite light ; Thou hast called us out of the low valley, where
we found only a grave ; Thou hast set our feet upon the mountain top,
and caused us to see the kingdoms of Thy boundless creation. We
rejoice in these things, for the intellectual enjoyment which they bring,
for the mental and moral robustness which are identified with faith in
Christ ; for all the noble manliness, the tender charity, and all the
beautiful service with which we have become familiar since we knew
Jesus Christ. We come to worship Him to-day. He is our only
Saviour, our infinite Redeemer ; we find our all in Him ; He has within
Him the fulness of the godhead ; He hath received gifts for men, — all
that we want is in His hand. Lord, open Thine hand, and satisfy our
souls with food ! We thank Thee for a disposition to worship God.
We bless Thee for this call from all that is material and visible, all that
is transient and deceptive. We rejoice in being called away from a
world so small and cold and disappointing, where the hills are so steep,
where the roads are so thorny, where the events are so numerous, where
every staff breaks in the pilgrim's hand, and where all that is round
about is beautiful on the outside but full of deception, into the light,
into heavenly places, into imperial, everlasting kingdoms. Thou
hast summoned us into these enjoyments. We bless Thee for Thy
goodness. We take courage, and become strong. Help us in our

The City Temple S'l'j

daily life to show the purity of our faith and love towards Jesus Christ.
May we not be carried about with every wind of doctrine. When
things material and perishable are shaken, may we look up as men
whose treasures are in heaven. When commerce is trembling, failing,
disappointing its devotees, — when the world brings forth nought but
thorns and weeds and thistles, — when it is dark and cold round about
us, — may we then show how deep is our faith in the invisible, how
constant is our love in Christ. When health fails, when we are afraid of
things that are high, when friends fall away from our side, when we find
hypocrisy where we expected sincerity, and lies where we had expected
truth, even then may our heart be confident in God. When the servant
fails may we cling with more tenacity to the Lord. We pray Thee now
for the forgiveness of our sins. We have done the things we ought not to
have done, we have left undone the things that we ought to have done.
We know this right well ; we are witnesses against ourselves. We do
not lift up ourselves before God as though we were not chargeable with
manifold crimes, errors, trespasses, and sins. We rather put our hand
upon our mouth, and our mouth in the dust, and say. Unclean, un-
clean ! Measuring ourselves by ourselves, we are honourable, upright,
true, and socially irreproachable, it may be ; but setting ourselves
beside Thy holiness, looking up to the standard of Thy righteousness,
and viewing our life from the life of Thy dear Son, we know that we
are wounds and bniises, and putrefying sores. There is none righteous,
no not one. All we like sheep have gone astray ; we have turned
every one to his own way ; we have become sinful before God, and
now our hearts' cry is, God be merciful unto us sinners ! Bring us one
and all to the great Cross. Help us through sin to see the meaning of
the mystery of sacrifice. Bring us through our weakness to see the
fulness of Jesus Christ's strength, that we may sin no more against
Thee, that our life henceforward may be pure and true and beautiful,
with all moral qualities, and helpful and redeeming to other men by
reason of its purity and gentleness and sympathy. Do Thou put within
us Thy Holy Spirit, that He may reign in us, the light of our under-
standing, the conductor of our will, the sanctifier of our affections, the
interpreter of Christ, the seal of our redemption ! Lift up those that be
boAved down. Nourish the crushed heart. Take out of the hands that
are trembling the cup that is too heavy for them just now, and give
them one moment's release, that they may come to it again with higher
courage and deeper trust. Where there is stubbornness of will, do
Thou use Thy hammer, Thou breaker of hearts, that there may be
penitence, submission, lowly homage to the one true God. Help all
perplexed men, all oppressed hearts, all persons who are in difficult
circumstances, who are baffled, tried, confused, enfeebled, whose very
strength has been squeezed out of them by an unsympathetic world,
who have laboured for naught, who have spent their strength in vain.
Thou knowest how to comfort such, and how to restore those who
have given way under the pressure which they could not resist. Be
very near all tempted souls ; when Satan is laying his gunpowder round
about them, and is about to apply the spark, do Thou then suddenly
come down, that Thy saints, having felt how near they were to perdi-

^2§ The City Temple

tion, may now feel how mighty is the deHverance of God, how sure is
the succour of heaven ! Thou knowest our peculiar temptations ; how
one man cannot understand the temptations of another ; how into each
heart the devil finds one secret road. Our hope is in Thee, our con-
fidence is in Christ, our safety is in the Cross ! Hold Thou us up, oh
Father of our spirits, and we shall be safe. Help us to be diligent
readers of Thy book. Give us eyes that see deeply into all its won-
drous meaning. Give us hearts that feel every appeal of its doctrine
and its sentiment. May ours be a life which shall incarnate the holy
truths, the stimulating promises, and all the glories of Thy holy book.
Now be with us ; be with us again as Thou usest to be in days which
are dear to memory. Revive our hearts. Give confidence to our souls
in Thy house, that we may honour it and love it with all our affections.
Bless the stranger within our gates ; the busy man whose memory be-
comes a temptation to him ; the young man who is full of hope ; the
little child who is the joy of the household. Do Thou come near unto
them. May we know of a surety that Thou art within reach of the
whisper of our love ; then shall we be set in Thy house, and we shall
have joy unspeakable ! Amen.

The City Temple.

REPORT OF DISCOURSES DELIVERED BY

JOSEPH PARKER,

In Poultry Chapel y on June i^th and July ind, 1871.

^j:po9itovK laratiinss iw iiyt %ti% oC tje Apostles*

CHAPTER I.

15. And in those days Peter stood up in the midst of the disciples, and said, (the number
of names together were about an hundred and twenty,)

16 Men and brethren, this scripture must needs have been fulfilled, which the Holy Ghost
by the mouth of David spake before concerning Judas, which was guide to them that
took Jesus.

17. For he was numbered with us, and had obtained part of his ministry.

18. Now this man purchased a field with the reward of iniquity; and falling headlong, he
burst asunder in the midst, and all his bowels gushed out.

19. And it was known unto ail the dwellers at Jerusalem; insomuch as that field is called
in their proper tongue, Aceldama, that is to say, The field of blood.

20. For it is written in the book of I'salms, Let his habitation be desolate, and let no man
dwell therein: and his bishoprick let another take.

21. Wherefore of these men which have companied with us all the time that the Lord
Jesus went in and out among us,

22. Beginning from the baptism of John, unto the same day that he was taken up from us,
must one be ordained to be a witness with us of his resurrection.

23. And they appointed two, Joseph called Barsabas, who was surnamed Justus, and
Matthias.

24. And they prayed, and said, Thou, Lord, which knowest the hearts of all men, shew
whether of these two thou hast chosen,

25. That he may take part of this ministry and apostleship, from which Judas by
transgression fell, that he might go to his own place.

26. And they gave forth their lots ; and the lot fell to Matthias ; and he was numbered
with the eleven apostles.

P P

2S^ The City Temple

N this paragraph there are at least three points of perpetual

interest.

I. Peter's position indicates the working of the law of

leadership in Christian comnnmities. Society without leader-
ship sinks into confusion. In the long run leadership resolves itself into
a question of personal qualification. For a time men may arise who
claim commanding positions who are unable to discharge the duties
which their ambition has coveted. In such instances there would seem
to be a miscarriage of the natural law and order of things ; yet it is
only temporary ; sooner or later unqualified men have to resign posi-
tions which they ought never to have assumed. In a great leader many
elements of qualification are combined. Other men may excel him in
detached points, but taken as a whole, he rules not perhaps by one
dominant faculty, but by a noble proportion of natural and acquired
gifts. The position of a leader is not so easy as it may appear to be
to unreflecting observers. Men see the elevation, not the strain and
responsibility which that elevation involves. The only sound rule for
promotion to influential positions in the church is, that wisaotn, where-
soever found, in the rich or the poor, the old or the young, should be
recognised and honoured. " Great men are not always wise, neither do
the aged understand wisdom." The true leader of public sentiment and
action is born, not made. These reflections upon leadership are the
more needful and pertinent to the occasion, because some have sought
to wrest the action of Peter into a justification of an unauthorised
primacy. Peter's action is itself the best answer to such interpretation.
Peter did not take the case into his own hands ; nor did he claim
superiority of judgment, much less infallibility ; there is nothing to show
that he exalted himself at the expense of the assembled church. In a
simple business-like manner he stated the case which the church had to
consider, and then called upon the whole assembly to come to a con-
clusion. The case in hand was settled not by one or two, but by the
whole company of christians. It was not even determined by the
apostolate, the eleven did not undertake to complete the original num-
ber of twelve. This incident throws an immense responsibility upon all
who are associated in church fellowship. This responsibihty, if not
most jealously guarded and fulfilled, is fraught with the most serious
danger. Where spiritual character falls below oflScial position, men are
sure to become the victims of their own conceit, and to set up masteries
and lordships which know nothing of the spirit of Christ. This is the
great drawback of ecclesiastical democracies. Men who are immature
in judgment, and but partially instructed in christian doctrine, are called
upon to discharge official obligations. It can hardly be wondered at
that such persons should be carried away by the rivalry of debate and
the love of personal supremacy. Where is there a crowd that can
seriously deliberate ? As numbers increase it would seem that power of
reflection diminishes. The sense of responsibility which ought to
govern individual action becomes so divided in a miscellaneous assem-
bly as to leave the personal conscience unexercised. In such instances

Expository Readings 331.

the probability is that merely carnal leaderships will be established in
the church, and that combatants will care more for victory than for
righteousness. He leads best who knows the art of wise following.
The leader is often, indeed, but the mouthpiece of the whole commu-
nity. He is to put into speech the thought and feeling which his
followers are unable to express for themselves ; and having done full
justice to their convictions and aspirations, he is by a skilful hand to
turn the whole force of the church into the wisest and most useful direc-
tion. The leadership of which we are now speaking does not imply
absolute supremacy in the church. All human leadership is to be sub-
ordinate to the Headship of the Divine Redeemer. The mightiest men
in the church are continually to say from the heart, " One is our
Master, and all we are brethren."

II. The course described in the text throws considerable light upon
the construction of the christian ministry. It was required that the
successor to the vacant bishopric be a man who had known Christ from
the beginning and had been a witness with the other apostles of the
Resurrection ot the Saviour. Inasmuch as the personal witnesses of the
Resurrection of Jesus would die out, we must find in this method of
choosing a man to take the place of Judas, a law which will apply to all
times and occasions. That law evidently is that those who sustain the
office of witnesses of Jesus Christ are to be men whose spiritual intimacy
with Him is intense and fully tested. Every minister must have seen
Christ, not indeed with the eyes of the flesh, but with the vision of the
soul. Every minister must also have known the power of the Resurrec-
tion of Christ so that he can testify to all the highest meanings of its
spiritual purpose. He only knows how to expound Resurrection who
has himself risen again. The Resurrection of Christ is a fact which must
be repeated in the history of every man who has entered into sympathy
with him. It is undoubtedly clear, from the election of Matthias, that
there is in the scriptures a distinct claim to apostolical succession. That
this doctrine has been abused is no reason why its scriptural authority
should be impaired or denied. For my own part I believe profoundly
and sincerely in apostolical succession. It is right, however, that the
sense in which this belief is entertained should be frankly avowed. We
are to try the spirits whether they be of God, because many false prophets
have gone out into the world. Many are able to say. Lord, Lord, whom
Jesus Christ never knew. Who then is infalhbly in the apostolical suc-
cession ? My answer is. He is in the apostolical succession who is animated
by the apostolical spirit. The office is not a question of mere ecclesi-
astical descent, it is from beginning to end a question of spiritual
illumination and sympathy. To recur to a point already touched upon,
it is evident that the twelfth minister was chosen by the whole Church.
It must be remarked, however, that he was only chosen subject to a
distinct expression of the Divine will. The election was not determined
by personal taste, much less by the industrious canvassing of ambitious
candidates. The church had no will but the will of God. The minister
was sought by prayer, and as a consequence was received with submission
and thankfulness. True ministers are never forced upon churches, The

332 The City Temple

prepared rnan goes to a prepared people, and by so much as he works
along the line of their consent and sympathy he works with the advantage
which comes of mutual confidence and love.

III. The method of testing the Divine will brings up the difficult
question of the interpositioji of God's hand in human aj^airs. We are
unanimously agreed that God does interpose in the out-working of
of Christian designs, but how far we can with positive certainty ascer-
tain where his work begins in contradistinction to the work of man it is
almost impossible to determine. There have been times when we have
wished for a simple method of knowing what God would have us do.
Gladly would many earnest men avail themselves of the use of the lot
but for a hesitation as to the validity of that method of discovering
God's will. Yet why should there be any doubt as to its validity ?
Unquestionably the first consideration relates to the spirit of the en-
quirer rather than to the forms of which he may avail himself Where
two courses are open to a man, and he is in doubt as to the election of
either of them, why should he not, after due religious preparation, in-
volving as this must do the entire subordination of his personal will to
the will of God, risk the decision of the case upon the casting of lots ?
Is there anything in such a course that is inconsistent with the sim-
plicity of the christian religion ? The man, it is presumed, is most
deeply anxious to know what God would have him do ; his anxiety
amounts at times to a keen distress ; he is willing to make any personal
sacrifice which the divine will may impose upon him, and how far so-
ever the decision by lot may oppose even the remotest and subtilest
inclination of his own choice (admitting that he may have a choice even
where there is an apparent equality of inducements) he is prepared to
accept it. Under such circumstances the lot may be surely used with
advantage. So important is the case, that we must again insist that
more depends upon the spirit of the enquirer than upon the method of
determination. An enquirer may almost unconsciously manipulate the
lots so as to gratify a wish which he would hardly confess even to him-
self. In almost all cases of doubt the perplexed man has more or less
of a choice. At that point the silent and often severe battle has to be
fought. The man has a leaning towards a certain course, yet he would
not pursue it if he knew it to be opposed to the Divine will ; at the
same time he would be most thankful were the lot to confirm his serret
bias. That man is not prepared to go to the lot until he has divested
himself of every suggestion of his own will. We are speaking now of
very special cases of difficulty. We are not prepared to teach that upon
every occasion we should turn the decisions of our life upon the casting
of lots ; on the other hand, we are not prepared to condemn them who
are fully persuaded in their own minds that the casting of lots should
precede the settlement of every doubtful case. As a general rule, three
things will be found to concur in making the path of Providence clear to
a devout enquirer: (i) A firm conviction on the part of the man him-
self; (2) Substantial unanimity on the part of impartial and experienced
counsellors; (3) A combination of favourable circumstances. These three
conditions may meet, and yet the will of God may not be discovered.

Expository Readings 223

A man may have a firm conviction in his own mind in the pursuit of a
most selfish course ; impartial and experienced advisers may be influenced
by merely worldly considerations ; and circumstances may be interpreted
through the medium of strong inclinations towards a special view. So
we are again thrown upon the fimdamental principle that everything
depends upon the intense religiousness of the spirit of the enquirer. That
will control his convictions, dictate the qualificadons of his advisers, and
give him a sound opinion as to the import and quality of circumstances.

CHAPTER 11.

1. And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in
one place.

2. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it
filled the house where they were sitting.

3. And there appeared untotliem cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upom each of them.

4. And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues,
as the Sprit gave them utterance

5. And there wereiiwelli ig at Jerusalem Jews, devout men out of every nation under heaven.

6. Now when this was noised abroad, the multitude came together, and were confounded,
because that every man heard them speak in his own language.

7. And they were all amazed and marvelled, saying one to another. Behold, are not all
these which speak Galilaeans?

8. And how hear we every man in our own tongue, wherein we were born.

•^ — 9. Parthians, and Medes, and Elamites, and the dwellers in Mesopotamia, and in Judaea,
and Cappadocia, in I'ontus, and Asia,

10. I hrygia, and Pamphylia, in Egypt, and in the parts of Libya about Cyrene, and
strangers of Rome, Jews and proselytes,

1 1 . Cretes and Arabians, we do hear them speak in our tongues the W( nderful works
of God.

12. And they were all amazed, and were in doubt, saying one to another, What
meaneth this ?

13. Others mocking said. These men are full of new wine.

|HEN we come to the word suddenly in the second verse, we
are somewhat startled. We do not know what terrible or
sublime event may be about to transpire. Who can be
prepared for the sudden disclosures of divine power? If,
however, we read the first and second verses together, we shall find that
the word " suddenly" occurs in a connection which explains its mean-
ing and modifies its eff"ect. In the first verse we have composure,
dignity. " When the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all
with one accord in one place." The great annual feast, one of three,
called Pentecost, had fully come, — the fiftieth day from the time of the
feast of the Passover. The disciples were all with one accord, without
tumult, without commotion, steadfast in heart, unanimous, convergent in
mind, affection, purpose ; they were all in one place, — sign of unity,
of fellowship, of security. Such is the account given in the first verse.
We come into the second, and we find the word " suddenly." Putting
the two verses together, we see how order and eccentricity, calmness

334 The City Temple

and commotion, law and miracle, are united and harmonised in the
divine government of the world. We speak of suddenness. If we
suppose that the word suddenness describes aught of mere haste on the
part of God, anything of mere extemporaneousness in divine thought
and action, or regard it as confining the deed to the instant, we shall
altogether mistake the genius and method of the divine rule. The
revelation was sudden. What of the preparation ? Christianity in all
its phases must be a continual excitement, wonder, surprise. Even
summer is a continual surprise to men who have seen it seventy times,
and who yet have an eye for the beautiful and an ear that can hear the
going of God on the living winds. Yet summer comes with regular
return from climes of eternal loveliness. Summer is an old friend, yet
every June is a stranger.

We speak of the suddenness of God's movement. Why every
movement of his has eternity for a background ; he does nothing in the
moment /(?r the moment. Every moment in which he works comes up
sobered with the wisdom, bright with the lustre, of eternity. We know
somewhat of suddenness in our own way of life. We know, also, how
suddenness can be associated with permanence. Here for example is a
volcano, — looking at it, you say, " It burst out so suddenly ! we had no
idea whatever of the discharge of fire, — in a moment the great torrent,
blazing and devouring, streamed from the mountain ! " So it did. But
can you tell how long the fire had been preparing for that climacteric
point ? The effect to you was sudden ; the process was long-continued.
So with revivals of religion. We sometimes hear that a revival has
broken out " quite suddenly." There is a sense in which that descrip-
tion of a revival may be perfectly true, — but what of the antecedent
processes ? what of family religion, what of secret prayer, what of long-
continued, private mediation upon the holy word ? These things were
not known publicly ; but they have been proceeding a long time, and
the result is that suddenly a whole congregation is melted, and there
rises from a thousand hearts a cry for the living God. These are the
revivals that are to be depended upon ; revivals that have a history,
silent, secret, unknown. Given such a revival ; and though there may
be a good deal about it that is offensive to taste, and that is unduly
exciting, a good deal that is intemperate, and that one would rather not
see, — yet there shall come of it fruit rich and abiding.

So also with individual conversiofi. It is sometimes asked, " Is
conversion a sudden act or is it a process ?" It is both. Severe critics
say, " We have no faith in these sudden conversions." We must ask
such critics to name the particular meaning they associate with the
expression sudden conversions ? A man is suddenly turned to God. Who
can tell how long that man's mind has been undergoing a secret prepara-
tion. His mother taught him God's word when he was a little child, —
the Sunday school teacher stored his memory with sacred passages when
he was an immature youth. He has had personal and relative affliction ;
he has been disappointed in business ; he has been undergoing manifold
discipline. What if in one moment all this should come to a point, and
that point should be called conversion ? An action is not necessarily
extemporaneous because it is sudden, A speaker may not know the

Expository Readings' 335

next sentence he is going to utter, and yet he may not be speaking ex-
temporaneously in any shallow sense of that word. His tahole life may
be a preparation ; every day may be one continual prayer for more light
and more power, and when the time comes on which he has to open his
lips, he is not speaking something which he wrought in one moment, —
he is speaking the experience of a life-time ; he is bringing out of the
fountain of his experience a stream for the refreshing of those who wait
upon him. There are some moments in which is gathered up the force
of a life-time.

The gift which was imparted with this suddenness, yet with this
composure, was the Holy Ghost. " They were all filled with the Holy
Ghost." Now, there is much that is purely miraculous in this paragraph.
We must not modify the speciaUty or force of the purely miraculous
element. We cannot explain it. We say all we can say when we de-
clare. It is a miracle. Well, as the record was given for our instruction
and edification, we ask a great question in enquiring, " What are the
signs, what is the proof, and what the confirmation, that we ourselves
have received the fulness of the Holy Spirit ? " The question which
earnest men will put to themselves will not relate to cloven tongues,
rushing mighty winds, and merely external phenomena ; it will relate
exclusively to the inward divine gift, — the gift of the Spirit of God.
Mark, a man cannot be the same after he has received the Holy Ghost
as he was before. Can God enter into a man's life, rule his thinking,
control his will, elevate his affection, and that man be just the same as
he was in his pagan or natural state ? It becomes us, therefore, to ask
with simplicity and reverence. What are the signs which infallibly declare
that a man has within him, as lord and king and sanctifier, God the
Holy Ghost ?

" There appeared unto the disciples cloven tongues like as a fire,
and sat upon each of them." May we not look for fire on the part of
those who have received the Holy Ghost ? Is religion to be measured
by its coldness, or by its fervour ? Is there a single passage in scripture
which justifies frigidity, indifterence, on matters belonging to our highest
life? Are we not, on the contrary, exhorted to be "fervent in spirit"?
Is it not to be with the Holy Ghost, as it Avas with Jesus Christ himself?
Did not our hearts burn within us whilst he opened unto us the scriptures ?
Do we not read of the spirit of judgment, and the spirit oibtirning'i
Was not John, the forerunner of Christ, a burnitig light ? Will those
who come after the Saviour be less fervid than those who merely
announced his coming ? We cannot explain what fervour is. It is one
of the subtle characteristics of life which never can be put into language.
We can tell where knowledge begins and where knowledge ends.
Knowledge is a measurable qnantity ; but fervour, no man can fully ex-
plain. It asserts itself in the whole life, in sympathy, in judgment, in
method of service, in constancy of love, in determination of will, in the
grip of the hand, in the tone of the voice, in the glance of the eye. It
is everywhere ; yet no man can explain it fully. The Holy Ghost was
given unto the people of the ancient church as fire ! Why, fire is terrible 1
Is the church to be marked by terribleness ? Even so. The most
terrible clement in society ought to be the christian church. Bad men

33^ 7:6(? Ci^y Temple

ought to quake when they see a good man coming to them. <^ What
have we to do vvith thee, thou Holy One ?" The honour of christian
men ; the promise of christian men ought to be more sacred than the
Hfe-long oaths of other men ! Fire is purifying. Is the church to be a
sanctifying force in the world ? Verily so. Fire is cheering, comforting.
The fire of the sun blesses the earth, and all the worlds that wait upon
his glowing ministry. Is the church to cheer and comfort, to enliven
and animate mankind ? Undoubtedly so. Christianity without glowing
love is Christianity minus Christ.

"And they began to speak with other tongues." And the people
coming together were amazed, saying, *' Behold, are not all these which
speak Galileans ? and how hear we every man in our own tongue wherein
we were born." This is the second sign. Have we this sign that we
have received the Holy Ghost, namely, the power of speaking with
other tongues ? What is the great underlying truth of this particular
incident ? It is, that he who speaks in the power of the Holy Ghost
speaks the universal language. The christian speaks to every man in
his own tongue, in a far higher sense than can ever be known by the
use of grammars and dictionaries and forms of speech. Let us under-
stand that the men in question in the text did actually speak to all
those who came together from the difterent regions specified in their
own tongues. Still it remains a great and solemn truth that he who
speaks after the manner of the Holy Ghost speaks all languages. The
time will come when men will not have to learn languages as they learn
them now ; when the mere gift of uttering vocables will be enlarged,
and the church shall have full empire over all methods of communica-
tion. But in the meantime Christianity is the universal tongue. The
christian man speaks to every other man in his own tongue. To the
refined, he speaks with a refinement never taught in the schools ; to the
vulgar and the low he speaks with a homeliness, condescension, and
point which go right to the lowest, vulgarest man's heart. In this way
Christianity asserts its divinity. There are some subjects upon which
you can talk satisfactorily only to given audiences, elect companies,
persons admitted into the place of assembly by ticket. You can on
such subjects speak only to a chosen few. But when you speak Christ's
gospel you speak to man. Not only to men, but to human nature, —
not to the solitary individual or the special class. Knowledge of human
nature is the universal language. He who knows humanity knows all
languages ; and he only knows human nature who has studied in the
school of Christ. Understand that the men who spoke thus miraculously ,
with tongues did not speak incoherently, confusedly, uttering sounds
which they themselves did not know. We read that they spoke " the
wonderful works of God." The prophet is not to lose self-control. We
are not to have a babbling and jabbering church ; we are not to en-
courage men to express themselves insanely, without coherence or
meaning. There is one theme, often begun, never ended, " The
wonderful works of God 1 "

(To be continued.)

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